This is such an incredible time to be an American. Our first black
President is in his second term, fighting for – among many things –
equal pay and secure reproductive rights for women. Hillary Clinton
just completed her tenure as Secretary of State, the third woman to
hold that prestigious title. Female leaders like Kirsten Gillibrand and
Elizabeth Warren are demanding a new kind of transparency in
Washington. And First Lady Michelle Obama is about as perfect a role
model as anyone can be, leading the charge for a healthier (and more
stylish) America.
I often think about how transcendent Michelle
Obama is, about how expert she is at blending her work life with her
family life. Yes, she’s a style icon,It's not hard to see why outdoor solar light
is all the rage. and I certainly do admire her for her looks as well as
her grace, but mostly I’m inspired by how dedicated she is to the
protection and support of her husband and daughters. I keep a magnet of
the Obama family on my fridge at home, not just because I love my
President, but because the Obamas are such an exceptionally lovely
family unit. Their genuine affection and respect for one another is so
profound and profoundly touching, and being given the chance to observe
such a healthy family dynamic in the White House is a tremendous gift
to our nation.
While thinking about the power and strength
Michelle Obama possesses, I realized that though when it comes to
marketing “mom” is the new black, one group of women we almost never
hear about in the media is black moms. And unfortunately when black
moms are alluded to in the news, they’re still trotted out as the tired
stereotype of the welfare queen, the cautionary tale single mother
failure. I find that so depressing, and I knew I could rattle off a
list of 10 black moms I admired in less than as many seconds. I’ve
compiled a slideshow shouting-out these media mogul moms, and I thought
I’d share some of their thoughts about career and motherhood with you,
in the hopes that not only will they be celebrated, but that we can all
glean something from their tenacity, smarts and bravery:
Although
normal wear and tear vs damage can be hard to define, there are a few
things you can do to protect yourself from any confusion. As with most
things, communication is the key: if both you and your tenants are
clear about the condition of the unit at move-in, the importance of
promptly reporting needed repairs, and expectations at move-out, the
tenancy and the end of the tenancy will be smoother.
Insist on a
walk-through with new tenants. At the walk-through the tenants will
have an opportunity to note in writing existing damage and wear and
tear in the rental. Also, take dated photographs to keep on file. This
way both the landlord and tenant are protected. The tenant can't be
charged for damage that was not documented in the walk through, and the
landlord has picture proof of the unit's condition at move in.
Have
your lease outline the requirements for taking care of the property
and promptly calling for any repairs needed. Make the tenants aware if
they do not not notify the landlord in a timely manner of any issues,
they can be charged for any damage that occurred from their negligence.
Make your contact information readily available to the tenants, such
as a business card, fridge magnet, or website.
Before move-out
refer tenants to the “Wear and Tear versus Damages” document and
cleaning checklist. This way the tenant knows what is expected of them
in preparation for move out and cleaning of the unit.
A
championship for the Mets in 2013? Yeah, fat chance of that happening.
But here we are at Citi Field, plastic covering the lockers in the home
clubhouse with champagne dripping off of every surface in sight. The
New York Mets are champions, as unlikely as that seemed coming into the
season.
The only thing the Mets were expected to contend for
in 2013 was the NL East basement. Yet, things didn't exactly work out
that way.wind turbine
Veterans Johan Santana and Shaun Marcum not only stabilized the top of
New York's rotation, but formed one of the best starting duos in the
league. The pair each threw at least 190 innings, and posted ERAs under
3.50 for the orange and blue. Past those two, New York's rotation was
excellent with Jonathon Niese, Dillon Gee, and the exciting youngster
Matt Harvey holding their own. Harvey was especially a revelation for
the Mets in his first full season in the majors, striking out 160
batters in 173 innings while pitching to a 3.79 ERA.
Offensively,Find the best selection of high-quality collectible bobblehead
available anywhere. it was supposed to be a struggle for the Mets. And
at times, it was. New York's outfield was thoroughly unimpressive,
totaling just 24 homers among the three regular starters and playing
below average defense for the mostpart. But it was in the infield where
New York's offense shined. David Wright put together an MVP-caliber
season after signing a contract extension this winter, winning a Gold
Glove and homering 27 times while hitting .303 with a .Welcome to Find
the right laser Engraver or Laser engraver
machines.942 OPS. First baseman Ike Davis stayed healthy all season and
built on his strong second half, belting 38 homers and providing
Wright with protection in New York's lineup. Behind the plate, rookie
catcher Travis d'Arnaud made his major league debut in May, and ended
up hitting 14 homers in 313 plate appearances behind the dish for the
Mets.Looking for the Best Air purifier?
New
York's bullpen also performed better than expectations, especially
after a disastrous 2012. Bobby Parnell, slotted into the closer's role
after Frank Francisco was placed on the DL for Opening Day, finally
took the next step in his new role, striking out 70 hitters in 72
innings and walking only 18. Veteran Brandon Lyon was the ideal setup
man for Parnell, striking out 63 in 60 innings and finally earning the
label of "underpaid" after years of being overpaid.
2013年2月19日 星期二
Special Cruise for a Special Kid
Six-year-old Bryon has a brain tumor that buys him membership in the
ultra-exclusive Children Battling Cancer club. It isn't a club anyone
would choose, but once you're in, the advantages can be astounding.
Children Battling Cancer teamed with Celebration Cruise line's Hope on
Water granted Bryon a dream vacation on the Bahamas Celebration.
Bryon arrived at his grandparents home in Vero Beach several days before his voyage. He helped catch Crevalle Jack, Lane Snappers, Sheepshead and even a hideous Big Headed Sea Robin and foolhardy tern - all released none too the worse for wear - and enjoyed bananna pudding at Woody's in Sebastian, and and a fabulous ice-cream Sundae at the Riverside Cafe. He hopes to take the wheelchair accessible half day fishing excursion from Vero Tackle under the bridge next time he is in town....but on this visit, he had other fish to fry!
Gramma & Grampa drove Bryon, Dada and Mommy to Riviera Beach. They wound through the neighborhood, aiming for the huge cranes looming high in the sky and suddenly the Port of West Palm appeared in front of them. They pulled down into the parking lot just after the bridge and unloaded quickly curbside. It was about 11:30 am – and eager people were being let through security already, even though check in does not officially start until 1:00 pm.
Bryon made the acquaintance of a stylish lady and her husband, who were outside waiting for wheelchairs and assistance with their baggage. Mommy told them how nervous she had been about this trip,Wide range of unique crystal mosaic and natural stone mosaic tiles. and the couple assured them that they will have a nice time, and not to worry. The man is 98 years old, and he was not nervous, he just couldn’t wait to get on board and start having some fun!
A man named Steve with a name badge that identified him as Cruise Director greeted Bryon, Dada and Mommy with a booming voice and friendly smile. Mommy started to explain that Bryon is the “CBC” kid – but Steve laughed and says he knows that – he has been waiting for them! Steve helped with the bags, and shows them in….and so the adventure began.
After clearing security, Steve introduced the trio to Max (Italy), the Restaurant Manager. Max wore a neat white official-looking suit and matching shoes. Max escorted Bryon and his parents to the elevator, and on up to the VIP Check In counter on the second floor, all the while inquiring after Bryon’s food preferences and dietary requirements, which he then discussed with the Chef who also came to meet Bryon. Max told Bryon’s family that he would like to make reservations for them at The Cove Restaurant for their first night and at The Crystal Dining Room for the second, and asks whether they prefer to dine at 6 or 9. Max took leave of the party to make the appropriate arrangements, but introduced them to Jody (Honduras) in Guest Relations, who would see them onto the ship. There was a line of excited people steadily streaming up the escalator, arriving early to check in and receive their cabin keys.
Bryon was the first one to board! He was so excited to wheel into the grand lobby, with its rich wood, twin glass cylinder elevators, and gilt laced mahi-mahi sculpture. Everywhere was polished metals and sparkling mirrors and delightful scents wafted out of the Fountain of Youth Spa across from the Information desk. The Concierge and Excursion booking desks were on the far side, and there was a Gift Shop by the Spa entrance.
Jody led them up to Level 7, and showed them their cabin. The doorway was wide enough to allow Bryon’s wheelchair to pass, and the cabin suite was large enough to roll him around easily. The shower had a roll-in lip too – which was a nice amenity. The staff had made a mouse out of towels that sat bright and perky on the soft white down comforter covering the queen bed, and a towel elephant sat by the window on a table.dry cabinet There was a basket of fruit, and plate of fat red dark chocolate-dipped strawberries drizzled with white chocolates by the mini bar. Jody gave the family a few minutes to drop their bags and explore the room, and then hurried them off to Level 9, to beat the crowds to the lunch buffet.
The Captain and mate greeted the family as they stepped out onto the upper deck. A waiter carried Mommy’s tray while she wheeled Bryon through the buffet, and DaDa pointed out various dishes she might like to try. There was a great variety of fresh salads,Willkommen im virtuellen Zuhause der Lercher Werkzeugbau GmbH. and delicious coconut chicken, and savory paella. They relaxed with their loaded plates at a shaded table on the warm sunny deck. Chef and Sous Chef brought Bryon a special dish of whipped sweet potatoes with pureed broccoli and chicken that he gobbled.Welcome to the premier industrial source for Custom IInjection Mold Plastics in New York.
Bryon does not eat much because his brain tumor has rendered his chewing ability and swallow reflex ineffective and the chemotherapy plays havoc on his sense of taste. Bryon’s primary nutrition is in the form of enteral formula delivered through a gastric tube directly into his stomach, but this special meal he enjoyed very much, and this made Chef very happy. The waiter Ivan (Macedonia) checked in unobtrusively to clear plates and refill soft drink glasses. He made time to answer questions about the ship, its staff, and their schedules. It became clear that the food service staff works about 18 hours every day – but somehow they were all smiling and joking with each other and the passengers the whole trip.
Mommy and DaDa relaxed into their seats and ordered the celebratory Bahama Mamas that come in souvenir plastic glasses from the beverage service waiter named Su. Su was very attentive and explained how to order alcohol-containing drinks at the best overall value for the duration of the trip – either by buying an entire bottle with a half dozen or so cans of soda to share, or by ordering the ice buckets full of beer specials. Once the ship is out on the water and in the Bahamas, the drinking age is 18 years old, so this must be a popular Spring Break destination. As with airline travel, ship passengers are not allowed to bring liquor aboard with them, but they may order it once aboard. Perhaps this allows the crew some modicum of control over unpleasant alcohol-related incidents, and truthfully, it did not seem like anyone regretfully over-indulged, so maybe this system is effective.
Jody swung by after lunch and gave Bryon, Mommy and DaDa a tour of the ship. Newly arrived passengers were pouring on board; the elevators were stuffed with people and luggage and the lobbies were hectic hubs of people trying to get their bearings. Jody steered Bryon’s family to the Spa, and helped them make arrangements for a couples massage that afternoon. She showed them the restaurants, the casino, the theatre lounge, and the three age- appropriate kids clubs. Finally, they returned to their cabin and Jody left them to change into bathing suits and hit the pool.
The kid’s pool is only about 12” deep, but it has a long tubular water slide and the kids loved it. Bryon joined several other kids at the pool, one travelling with her Grandmother Pat (Michigan), and two other little blondies (Finland). Everything, including the deck, looked freshly painted and bright. There was some grit to the surface, but Mommy walked Bryon along carefully where it was wet. Mommy jumped in the aquarium-looking adult pool quickly and splashed around a little before DaDa and she had to change for the Spa appointment and Bryon was due at the Kids Club.
After luxurious massages, the trio returned to the upper deck to find a full blown Conga line and pool full of party goers. There were so many events happening at once – a wine tasting,The stone mosaic series is a grand collection of coordinating Travertine mosaics and listellos. a dance contest, a Latin Mojito party, bingo, poker games – that it was almost overwhelming. It seemed like everywhere people were dancing and laughing and eating and drinking and generally having a really good time – and they hadn’t even set sail yet!
The breeze picked up and the sun started to sag, so Bryon and his parents returned to their cabin to change for dinner. Mommy went downstairs to get an adapter from the concierge for Bryon’s enteral pump while DaDa finished dressing. Jody picked them up and escorted them to The Cove, where Max took over and led them to a quiet table by the window. Chef prepared Bryon another delicious puree, but Bryon nodded off, leaving Mommy and DaDa to enjoy dinner on their own. DaDa selected a lobster avocadotini appetizer, Mommy had the escargot. They had mushroom cappuccino soup, followed by goat cheese-dotted arugula salad topped with crisp fried onion strings. After a tablespoon sized taste of lemon sorbet drizzled with Compari and topped with a mint leaf intermezzo, DaDa dove into a thick filet mignon, cooked to perfection; and Mommy had lamb chops that were so good that she felt compelled to take a photo of them. Bryon snored on.
DaDa rarely eats dessert, but this night he opted for the mousse trio: tiramisu, raspberry-white chocolate, and dark and white chocolate served in three petite glasses perched in a silvery stand. Mommy chose a Grand Marnier brittle glazed crème brulee that was divine. Max arranged to have Bryon’s untouched meal delivered to the refrigerator in his cabin, in case he was hungry later in the evening.
Bryon arrived at his grandparents home in Vero Beach several days before his voyage. He helped catch Crevalle Jack, Lane Snappers, Sheepshead and even a hideous Big Headed Sea Robin and foolhardy tern - all released none too the worse for wear - and enjoyed bananna pudding at Woody's in Sebastian, and and a fabulous ice-cream Sundae at the Riverside Cafe. He hopes to take the wheelchair accessible half day fishing excursion from Vero Tackle under the bridge next time he is in town....but on this visit, he had other fish to fry!
Gramma & Grampa drove Bryon, Dada and Mommy to Riviera Beach. They wound through the neighborhood, aiming for the huge cranes looming high in the sky and suddenly the Port of West Palm appeared in front of them. They pulled down into the parking lot just after the bridge and unloaded quickly curbside. It was about 11:30 am – and eager people were being let through security already, even though check in does not officially start until 1:00 pm.
Bryon made the acquaintance of a stylish lady and her husband, who were outside waiting for wheelchairs and assistance with their baggage. Mommy told them how nervous she had been about this trip,Wide range of unique crystal mosaic and natural stone mosaic tiles. and the couple assured them that they will have a nice time, and not to worry. The man is 98 years old, and he was not nervous, he just couldn’t wait to get on board and start having some fun!
A man named Steve with a name badge that identified him as Cruise Director greeted Bryon, Dada and Mommy with a booming voice and friendly smile. Mommy started to explain that Bryon is the “CBC” kid – but Steve laughed and says he knows that – he has been waiting for them! Steve helped with the bags, and shows them in….and so the adventure began.
After clearing security, Steve introduced the trio to Max (Italy), the Restaurant Manager. Max wore a neat white official-looking suit and matching shoes. Max escorted Bryon and his parents to the elevator, and on up to the VIP Check In counter on the second floor, all the while inquiring after Bryon’s food preferences and dietary requirements, which he then discussed with the Chef who also came to meet Bryon. Max told Bryon’s family that he would like to make reservations for them at The Cove Restaurant for their first night and at The Crystal Dining Room for the second, and asks whether they prefer to dine at 6 or 9. Max took leave of the party to make the appropriate arrangements, but introduced them to Jody (Honduras) in Guest Relations, who would see them onto the ship. There was a line of excited people steadily streaming up the escalator, arriving early to check in and receive their cabin keys.
Bryon was the first one to board! He was so excited to wheel into the grand lobby, with its rich wood, twin glass cylinder elevators, and gilt laced mahi-mahi sculpture. Everywhere was polished metals and sparkling mirrors and delightful scents wafted out of the Fountain of Youth Spa across from the Information desk. The Concierge and Excursion booking desks were on the far side, and there was a Gift Shop by the Spa entrance.
Jody led them up to Level 7, and showed them their cabin. The doorway was wide enough to allow Bryon’s wheelchair to pass, and the cabin suite was large enough to roll him around easily. The shower had a roll-in lip too – which was a nice amenity. The staff had made a mouse out of towels that sat bright and perky on the soft white down comforter covering the queen bed, and a towel elephant sat by the window on a table.dry cabinet There was a basket of fruit, and plate of fat red dark chocolate-dipped strawberries drizzled with white chocolates by the mini bar. Jody gave the family a few minutes to drop their bags and explore the room, and then hurried them off to Level 9, to beat the crowds to the lunch buffet.
The Captain and mate greeted the family as they stepped out onto the upper deck. A waiter carried Mommy’s tray while she wheeled Bryon through the buffet, and DaDa pointed out various dishes she might like to try. There was a great variety of fresh salads,Willkommen im virtuellen Zuhause der Lercher Werkzeugbau GmbH. and delicious coconut chicken, and savory paella. They relaxed with their loaded plates at a shaded table on the warm sunny deck. Chef and Sous Chef brought Bryon a special dish of whipped sweet potatoes with pureed broccoli and chicken that he gobbled.Welcome to the premier industrial source for Custom IInjection Mold Plastics in New York.
Bryon does not eat much because his brain tumor has rendered his chewing ability and swallow reflex ineffective and the chemotherapy plays havoc on his sense of taste. Bryon’s primary nutrition is in the form of enteral formula delivered through a gastric tube directly into his stomach, but this special meal he enjoyed very much, and this made Chef very happy. The waiter Ivan (Macedonia) checked in unobtrusively to clear plates and refill soft drink glasses. He made time to answer questions about the ship, its staff, and their schedules. It became clear that the food service staff works about 18 hours every day – but somehow they were all smiling and joking with each other and the passengers the whole trip.
Mommy and DaDa relaxed into their seats and ordered the celebratory Bahama Mamas that come in souvenir plastic glasses from the beverage service waiter named Su. Su was very attentive and explained how to order alcohol-containing drinks at the best overall value for the duration of the trip – either by buying an entire bottle with a half dozen or so cans of soda to share, or by ordering the ice buckets full of beer specials. Once the ship is out on the water and in the Bahamas, the drinking age is 18 years old, so this must be a popular Spring Break destination. As with airline travel, ship passengers are not allowed to bring liquor aboard with them, but they may order it once aboard. Perhaps this allows the crew some modicum of control over unpleasant alcohol-related incidents, and truthfully, it did not seem like anyone regretfully over-indulged, so maybe this system is effective.
Jody swung by after lunch and gave Bryon, Mommy and DaDa a tour of the ship. Newly arrived passengers were pouring on board; the elevators were stuffed with people and luggage and the lobbies were hectic hubs of people trying to get their bearings. Jody steered Bryon’s family to the Spa, and helped them make arrangements for a couples massage that afternoon. She showed them the restaurants, the casino, the theatre lounge, and the three age- appropriate kids clubs. Finally, they returned to their cabin and Jody left them to change into bathing suits and hit the pool.
The kid’s pool is only about 12” deep, but it has a long tubular water slide and the kids loved it. Bryon joined several other kids at the pool, one travelling with her Grandmother Pat (Michigan), and two other little blondies (Finland). Everything, including the deck, looked freshly painted and bright. There was some grit to the surface, but Mommy walked Bryon along carefully where it was wet. Mommy jumped in the aquarium-looking adult pool quickly and splashed around a little before DaDa and she had to change for the Spa appointment and Bryon was due at the Kids Club.
After luxurious massages, the trio returned to the upper deck to find a full blown Conga line and pool full of party goers. There were so many events happening at once – a wine tasting,The stone mosaic series is a grand collection of coordinating Travertine mosaics and listellos. a dance contest, a Latin Mojito party, bingo, poker games – that it was almost overwhelming. It seemed like everywhere people were dancing and laughing and eating and drinking and generally having a really good time – and they hadn’t even set sail yet!
The breeze picked up and the sun started to sag, so Bryon and his parents returned to their cabin to change for dinner. Mommy went downstairs to get an adapter from the concierge for Bryon’s enteral pump while DaDa finished dressing. Jody picked them up and escorted them to The Cove, where Max took over and led them to a quiet table by the window. Chef prepared Bryon another delicious puree, but Bryon nodded off, leaving Mommy and DaDa to enjoy dinner on their own. DaDa selected a lobster avocadotini appetizer, Mommy had the escargot. They had mushroom cappuccino soup, followed by goat cheese-dotted arugula salad topped with crisp fried onion strings. After a tablespoon sized taste of lemon sorbet drizzled with Compari and topped with a mint leaf intermezzo, DaDa dove into a thick filet mignon, cooked to perfection; and Mommy had lamb chops that were so good that she felt compelled to take a photo of them. Bryon snored on.
DaDa rarely eats dessert, but this night he opted for the mousse trio: tiramisu, raspberry-white chocolate, and dark and white chocolate served in three petite glasses perched in a silvery stand. Mommy chose a Grand Marnier brittle glazed crème brulee that was divine. Max arranged to have Bryon’s untouched meal delivered to the refrigerator in his cabin, in case he was hungry later in the evening.
2013年2月18日 星期一
Choice-free holidays
As travel becomes more accessible, many today look to the internet to
help them discover new and exciting holiday options. Yet, the seemingly
endless degree of choice available means that time-starved luxury
travellers are willing to give away responsibility for deciding their
holidays to others – in the quest for truly rarified experiences, it
makes sense for discerning holidaymakers to enjoy a travel experience
hand-selected by a trustworthy holiday operator.
Six-year-old luxury travel operator Black Tomato, which specialises in piecing together unique tailor-made experiences for its customers, recorded a 14 million annual turnover in 2012. In addition to planning the usual holiday itinerary - flights, accommodation, etc - Black Tomato prides itself on meeting customers’ every minor need or desire. This can be anything from compiling a selection of songs on an iTunes playlist for the traveller to listen to while away to providing a film for the traveller to watch once back home and faced with the post-holiday blues.
If one of the purposes of a holiday is to allow relaxation, then it makes sense that travellers are handing over control of the decision-making process.Check out our selection of eyewear Optical frame today!Find the best iPhone headset for you Increasingly, travellers are opting out of the strenuous input required to filter through the plethora of holiday possibilities. Instead, this process is being wholly placed into the hands of operators who are trusted to offer more simplified, exclusive and novel holiday selections that expedite (and, at times, entertain during) the decision-making process.
The coming year will see more travel services evolving not only to help their discerning customers discover appropriate holidays, but also to help plan, finalise and offer those experiences in the most interesting and exclusive of ways. This may manifest through the way in which holidays are presented; the story behind how they are selected; the exclusivity of the platform they reside upon; and even via the additional perks with which they are offered.Our premium collection of quality personalized keychains generously offers affordability in a custom keychain.
Take a look at how these brands are using innovative methods and platforms to package and present ‘choice cut’ holidays, services and experiences for their customers:
Hotel Haiku is a travel website that lists hotels around the world in an exceptionally simple fashion. Information about a featured hotel is limited to a single image and a haiku-style description of the property. The site also features ‘notels’, which are architecturally or conceptually unique holiday rental properties
American Express Travel launched Nextpedition, a tailor-made mystery vacation with social media integration. The trip begins with a quiz designed to attribute a Travel Sign to each user, based on their interests and personality. Travellers can share the quiz on Facebook and then have the opportunity to speak to a Nextpedition Travel Specialist, who will create a vacation based on their Travel Sign, as well as duration and budget. Destinations include cities in the US, Canada and Europe, and the vacation itinerary is revealed gradually via a mobile device; the Travel Console. This device suggests personalized activities and makes recommendations on places to see and things to do. The Travel Console also allows vacation-makers to keep a record of their trip, uploading photograph and videos, sharing on Facebook and making comments – plus family and friends can follow the progress of the trip in real-time. Package prices start at $1000.
Mumbai-based travel brand SOTC launched Box Holidays – tangible, pre-packaged travel offerings that can be purchased online or off the shelf in a participating retail store. Rather than having to spend time and effort researching options with a travel agent,Bay monitoring and parking guidance system come together in seamless integration offering more benefits. purchasers can simply buy a Box Holiday, which features all the key details on the outside of the box,Here's a complete list of oil painting supplies for the beginning oil painter. including price, validity period, service inclusions, images and so on. Pricing begins at INR5,990 per couple (71) for domestic getaways and INR47,410 (570) for international packages.
Roadtrippers is a travel website offering driving directions through the US based not on the most efficient journey, but the most interesting route. Users enter their start location and destination, and Roadtrippers shows the most direct path to take; drivers can then alter the distance they are willing to travel away from that route and add filters depending on what kind of things they would like to see along the way – including local dining options, offbeat hotels and national parks. Suggestions featured on the site are curated by local experts.
New York-based Excursionist is a members-only travel website selling exclusive vacation experiences curated by local professionals and site members. Excursionist offers vacations to worldwide destinations that involve local individuals, including artists, scientists, chefs and activists. The handpicked travel guides accompany the tourist on their vacation, providing information and local knowledge, so creating a unique, educational experience. Excursionist also works to provide its members with special access to tourism-related sites such as archaeological digs and other places that are often closed to the public.
Indeed, the increase in travellers relinquishing their roles as holiday planners is bound to result in more travel operators fighting to win their attention by presenting holidays in interesting ways. However, those with wanderlust will ultimately only demonstrate loyalty to the providers that accurately source and tailor every single holiday in a way that exceeds expectations.
Six-year-old luxury travel operator Black Tomato, which specialises in piecing together unique tailor-made experiences for its customers, recorded a 14 million annual turnover in 2012. In addition to planning the usual holiday itinerary - flights, accommodation, etc - Black Tomato prides itself on meeting customers’ every minor need or desire. This can be anything from compiling a selection of songs on an iTunes playlist for the traveller to listen to while away to providing a film for the traveller to watch once back home and faced with the post-holiday blues.
If one of the purposes of a holiday is to allow relaxation, then it makes sense that travellers are handing over control of the decision-making process.Check out our selection of eyewear Optical frame today!Find the best iPhone headset for you Increasingly, travellers are opting out of the strenuous input required to filter through the plethora of holiday possibilities. Instead, this process is being wholly placed into the hands of operators who are trusted to offer more simplified, exclusive and novel holiday selections that expedite (and, at times, entertain during) the decision-making process.
The coming year will see more travel services evolving not only to help their discerning customers discover appropriate holidays, but also to help plan, finalise and offer those experiences in the most interesting and exclusive of ways. This may manifest through the way in which holidays are presented; the story behind how they are selected; the exclusivity of the platform they reside upon; and even via the additional perks with which they are offered.Our premium collection of quality personalized keychains generously offers affordability in a custom keychain.
Take a look at how these brands are using innovative methods and platforms to package and present ‘choice cut’ holidays, services and experiences for their customers:
Hotel Haiku is a travel website that lists hotels around the world in an exceptionally simple fashion. Information about a featured hotel is limited to a single image and a haiku-style description of the property. The site also features ‘notels’, which are architecturally or conceptually unique holiday rental properties
American Express Travel launched Nextpedition, a tailor-made mystery vacation with social media integration. The trip begins with a quiz designed to attribute a Travel Sign to each user, based on their interests and personality. Travellers can share the quiz on Facebook and then have the opportunity to speak to a Nextpedition Travel Specialist, who will create a vacation based on their Travel Sign, as well as duration and budget. Destinations include cities in the US, Canada and Europe, and the vacation itinerary is revealed gradually via a mobile device; the Travel Console. This device suggests personalized activities and makes recommendations on places to see and things to do. The Travel Console also allows vacation-makers to keep a record of their trip, uploading photograph and videos, sharing on Facebook and making comments – plus family and friends can follow the progress of the trip in real-time. Package prices start at $1000.
Mumbai-based travel brand SOTC launched Box Holidays – tangible, pre-packaged travel offerings that can be purchased online or off the shelf in a participating retail store. Rather than having to spend time and effort researching options with a travel agent,Bay monitoring and parking guidance system come together in seamless integration offering more benefits. purchasers can simply buy a Box Holiday, which features all the key details on the outside of the box,Here's a complete list of oil painting supplies for the beginning oil painter. including price, validity period, service inclusions, images and so on. Pricing begins at INR5,990 per couple (71) for domestic getaways and INR47,410 (570) for international packages.
Roadtrippers is a travel website offering driving directions through the US based not on the most efficient journey, but the most interesting route. Users enter their start location and destination, and Roadtrippers shows the most direct path to take; drivers can then alter the distance they are willing to travel away from that route and add filters depending on what kind of things they would like to see along the way – including local dining options, offbeat hotels and national parks. Suggestions featured on the site are curated by local experts.
New York-based Excursionist is a members-only travel website selling exclusive vacation experiences curated by local professionals and site members. Excursionist offers vacations to worldwide destinations that involve local individuals, including artists, scientists, chefs and activists. The handpicked travel guides accompany the tourist on their vacation, providing information and local knowledge, so creating a unique, educational experience. Excursionist also works to provide its members with special access to tourism-related sites such as archaeological digs and other places that are often closed to the public.
Indeed, the increase in travellers relinquishing their roles as holiday planners is bound to result in more travel operators fighting to win their attention by presenting holidays in interesting ways. However, those with wanderlust will ultimately only demonstrate loyalty to the providers that accurately source and tailor every single holiday in a way that exceeds expectations.
Boart eyes two-year turnaround
The result came on the same day that the firm announced that Richard
O'Brien -- the chief of New York Stock Exchange-listed Newmont Mining --
would become Boart's chief executive, replacing ousted chief Craig
Kipp.
Boart chairman David McLemore, who has been acting in the role since Mr Kipp's exit, said the firm's main indicators of rig use and order backlog of drilling products had stabilised but the global outlook for mining services remained unclear. It was looking to restructure its cost base in preparation for any resurgence.
"Our customers clearly are re-setting their cost base and . . .Check out our selection of eyewear Optical frame today! they're going to expect (us) to negotiate a new price for 2013 versus 2012 and we're well into that cycle, and it looks like our planning for pricing going into 2013 is also in line with that, " Mr McLemore said. Despite recent action to create greater efficiency at the company, which slashed global job numbers and moved manufacturing to low cost centres, Mr McLemore -- who will step down as chairman but remain on the board -- said the biggest challenge remained on the cost side as Boart looked to put in place a structure that was more resilient.
"So that it's a true overhead that's got leverage on it in the good times," he said.Our premium collection of quality personalized keychains generously offers affordability in a custom keychain. "We don't have any headcount numbers on that, but we do know that our operating margins have got to improve by 2 or 3 per cent to be in line with our peers . . . my view in terms of us leading the industry, in terms of our operating margins, it's a two-year journey," he said.
Drilling products revenue, including equipment and performance tooling, fell by 13 per cent for the period to $US495m, and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation slumped by 19 per cent to $US107m. The firm gave no specific guidance for this year but said consensus expectations for revenue between $US1.7 billion and $US2bn was in line with its forecasts.
Deutsche Bank analyst Craig Wong-Pan said although the outlook remained uncertain it was a good result,Here's a complete list of oil painting supplies for the beginning oil painter. with Boart coming in at the top end of guidance.
"The working capital will continue to build and we won't see a recovery in that working capital until the second half of this financial year," he said.
Total revenue was flat at $US2bn, in line with earlier guidance, while EBITDA came in slightly above revised guidance at $US322m -- a long way from initial expectations announced last year of $US460m. Board member Barbara Jeremiah was elected to the chairman's position.
Bucks County Fire Marshal Walter M. Carwithen said the cause of the fire is unknown at this time and under investigation. The ruins were still smoldering as of Saturday morning. Damage to the building, furnishings and equipment could go as high as $150,000.
The three-building complex, topped by a 19th century bell cupola, formerly served as the Doylestown Public School.
The fire, which was reported at 2:15 p.m. Friday, apparently started in the abandoned third floor of the main grey stone building and spread to the second floor. The roof later collapsed in flames. The red brick annex adjacent to the main building was heavily damaged by smoke, water and falling debris.
A torch 50 feet high, five stories above the top of the hill around which Doylestown is built, was visible for at least four miles. It consumed the building's cupola in a sunny, cold setting of rainbows from the spray of firemen's hoses.
Firemen from nine volunteer fire companies,Bay monitoring and parking guidance system come together in seamless integration offering more benefits. two rescue squads and an ambulance corps were involved. Fire companies fought the flames for more than three hours before getting the fire under control. Four provided auxiliary service.
Close to 1,000 persons ringed the site. As spectators left, more arrived on the scene.
Since 1966, when the county bought the complex for $80,000, the main building housed offices of the Bucks County Public Schools Intermediate Unit 22, the Central Bucks YMCA, the Bucks Neighborhood Youth Corps, the Bucks District Soil Conservation Service and the U.S. Navy recruiting office.
The brick addition, built in 1912, was used as a major storage facility for priceless county records, including deeds, wills and marriage licenses, some dating to the 1680s.Find the best iPhone headset for you A third building to the rear of the main building, constructed in 1925, is vacant. It escaped serious damage.
Dr. Albert Neiman, assistant executive director of the Intermediate Unit, whose office was on the second floor of the main building, discovered the flames in a former science laboratory on the dusty third floor.
"I smelled the smoke and ran upstairs. There were flames shooting up. Everybody started to yell to get out," he said.
Neighborhood children and county officials formed chain lines to pass on cartons and files of documents. Pulled from the smoldering complex were about 300 hardbound marriage license dockets and more than 600 metal files of wills.
In addition, thousands of other records of the prothonotary and district attorney were safely left in wire-mesh pens in the annex after the flames were repulsed. Also saved was a collection of 75 stuffed big game animal trophies, valued at $100,000, donated to the county for educational purposes.
County building supervisor John Hofman coordinated the effort to save the records. He said a county truck took the material to the county-owned Roads and Bridges Building on Route 413 in Buckingham Township.
Boart chairman David McLemore, who has been acting in the role since Mr Kipp's exit, said the firm's main indicators of rig use and order backlog of drilling products had stabilised but the global outlook for mining services remained unclear. It was looking to restructure its cost base in preparation for any resurgence.
"Our customers clearly are re-setting their cost base and . . .Check out our selection of eyewear Optical frame today! they're going to expect (us) to negotiate a new price for 2013 versus 2012 and we're well into that cycle, and it looks like our planning for pricing going into 2013 is also in line with that, " Mr McLemore said. Despite recent action to create greater efficiency at the company, which slashed global job numbers and moved manufacturing to low cost centres, Mr McLemore -- who will step down as chairman but remain on the board -- said the biggest challenge remained on the cost side as Boart looked to put in place a structure that was more resilient.
"So that it's a true overhead that's got leverage on it in the good times," he said.Our premium collection of quality personalized keychains generously offers affordability in a custom keychain. "We don't have any headcount numbers on that, but we do know that our operating margins have got to improve by 2 or 3 per cent to be in line with our peers . . . my view in terms of us leading the industry, in terms of our operating margins, it's a two-year journey," he said.
Drilling products revenue, including equipment and performance tooling, fell by 13 per cent for the period to $US495m, and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation slumped by 19 per cent to $US107m. The firm gave no specific guidance for this year but said consensus expectations for revenue between $US1.7 billion and $US2bn was in line with its forecasts.
Deutsche Bank analyst Craig Wong-Pan said although the outlook remained uncertain it was a good result,Here's a complete list of oil painting supplies for the beginning oil painter. with Boart coming in at the top end of guidance.
"The working capital will continue to build and we won't see a recovery in that working capital until the second half of this financial year," he said.
Total revenue was flat at $US2bn, in line with earlier guidance, while EBITDA came in slightly above revised guidance at $US322m -- a long way from initial expectations announced last year of $US460m. Board member Barbara Jeremiah was elected to the chairman's position.
Bucks County Fire Marshal Walter M. Carwithen said the cause of the fire is unknown at this time and under investigation. The ruins were still smoldering as of Saturday morning. Damage to the building, furnishings and equipment could go as high as $150,000.
The three-building complex, topped by a 19th century bell cupola, formerly served as the Doylestown Public School.
The fire, which was reported at 2:15 p.m. Friday, apparently started in the abandoned third floor of the main grey stone building and spread to the second floor. The roof later collapsed in flames. The red brick annex adjacent to the main building was heavily damaged by smoke, water and falling debris.
A torch 50 feet high, five stories above the top of the hill around which Doylestown is built, was visible for at least four miles. It consumed the building's cupola in a sunny, cold setting of rainbows from the spray of firemen's hoses.
Firemen from nine volunteer fire companies,Bay monitoring and parking guidance system come together in seamless integration offering more benefits. two rescue squads and an ambulance corps were involved. Fire companies fought the flames for more than three hours before getting the fire under control. Four provided auxiliary service.
Close to 1,000 persons ringed the site. As spectators left, more arrived on the scene.
Since 1966, when the county bought the complex for $80,000, the main building housed offices of the Bucks County Public Schools Intermediate Unit 22, the Central Bucks YMCA, the Bucks Neighborhood Youth Corps, the Bucks District Soil Conservation Service and the U.S. Navy recruiting office.
The brick addition, built in 1912, was used as a major storage facility for priceless county records, including deeds, wills and marriage licenses, some dating to the 1680s.Find the best iPhone headset for you A third building to the rear of the main building, constructed in 1925, is vacant. It escaped serious damage.
Dr. Albert Neiman, assistant executive director of the Intermediate Unit, whose office was on the second floor of the main building, discovered the flames in a former science laboratory on the dusty third floor.
"I smelled the smoke and ran upstairs. There were flames shooting up. Everybody started to yell to get out," he said.
Neighborhood children and county officials formed chain lines to pass on cartons and files of documents. Pulled from the smoldering complex were about 300 hardbound marriage license dockets and more than 600 metal files of wills.
In addition, thousands of other records of the prothonotary and district attorney were safely left in wire-mesh pens in the annex after the flames were repulsed. Also saved was a collection of 75 stuffed big game animal trophies, valued at $100,000, donated to the county for educational purposes.
County building supervisor John Hofman coordinated the effort to save the records. He said a county truck took the material to the county-owned Roads and Bridges Building on Route 413 in Buckingham Township.
Point Phillips to reopen in Moore Township
For decades, LeRoy Eckert looked down the hill from his front yard
and watched as his birthplace seemed to sink into the water that
gathered around its foundations.
By the time it closed five years ago, mud was climbing the Point Phillips Hotel's exterior walls. The business, once known in different circles for its cheesesteaks, video poker machines and barroom brawls, had become a crumbling stack of asphalt shingle siding. The centuries-old tavern it had been — the place where Eckert's parents carved out a living —- had long since dissolved.
Then Dan Tanczos stepped in. In 2008, he sold his interest in a Bethlehem beer distributor and bought the old tavern, namesake of the unincorporated Moore Township village of Point Phillips. Tanczos spent the next five years researching its history, damming the water and buffing the place to a sheen it never had .
In a few weeks, Tanczos says, he'll reopen the hotel as a bar and restaurant with two apartments.Sol provides the world with high-performance solar roadway and solar street light solutions.
"I'm looking forward to giving the people of this area a nice place to go," he said, pressing his palms to the polished bar he installed in a room where a grocer once sold flour and salt. "Something they can be proud of."
Tanczos, a broad-shouldered guy with a smile stamped above a dimpled chin, hopes visitors will come from all over the Lehigh Valley.We are designing Mold Maker and specialty tooling has been the backbone of our business since our inception. But he renovated it — learning how to install floors and Victorian ceiling tiles on the fly — for people like Eckert and himself.
On Aug. 6, 1928, in the same room where Tanczos recently planted his bar, Eckert was born. Growing up, he could step out the front door of his parents' house behind the hotel and find forest and swampland to hunt deer and squirrels. He played shortstop and second base on the old Point Phillips Hotel baseball team. In the bar, his dad served Horlacher, Old Dutch and Neuwiler, three mugs for a quarter. State law required you to offer hotel rooms, so, in six rooms on the second floor, they changed sheets on beds nobody ever slept in.
Since those days, ranchers and Cape Cods have pushed the forest aside. The one-room Point Phillips School, where Eckert learned English and math, closed eons ago. Even the 4-foot-high concrete letters that spelled "Point Phillips" his father installed on the embankment across from the hotel — the town's version of the Hollywood sign — eventually toppled.
When Eckert built the stone house next to the hotel in 1956, his mom asked him to take over running the place. Eckert said no. Tavern ownership wasn't for him. In those days, he explained, the place was pretty rough. Brawls were par for the course for neighborhood bars all over the area, in Petersville and Beersville, for example.
The quickest way to add a fresh look to a room or any part of a home (door or even a floor) is a fresh coat of paint. Every year - paint manufacturers come out with a new color to satisfy whatever trends might be going on. “Neutrals such as C2’s Scout - which is a kind of taupe and Reindeer which is a darker brown, are still popular. But eggplant and lime green are among the trendy colors this year,” said Frank Agrusa, who owns Van Jaarsveld Decorating Center in Utica.
You can also add richness and depth by applying a specialty paint treatment. As one decorator explains Trompe L’oeil is French for an art technique that involves using realistic imagery to create an optical illusion. Instead of rolling out two coats of flat paint you can use several paints to create the look of linen or leather. There are also metallic paints that can be used to create patterns. One of the home office photos on Houzz showed a walls covered with a black paint - once dry becomes a chalkboard surface.
Sculptures, hand blown glass vases, tile work and jewelry sparkled in the sunlight Sunday as people made their way through artists’ displays at Frances Stevens Park.
The three-day Desert Art Festival continues from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. today with more than 100 artists presenting original work in all mediums of two- and three-dimensional art, including paintings in acrylic, oils and watercolors, photography and etchings, all sprawled out on the corner of North Palm Canyon Drive and Alejo Road.
It’s the diversity of art and the quality of the work that keeps festival-goer Marilyn Dorman of Boise, Idaho, coming back, she said, along with the scenery of the surrounding mountains.
She and her daughter, Diane Dorman, also of Boise,The term 'hands free access control' means the token that identifies a user is read from within a pocket or handbag. were looking over the mixed media work of Fortune Sitole of Oakland.
Sitole’s depictions of life in South Africa are made with recyclable materials — wood,We offer advanced technology products and services for parking guidance control. sand, aluminum, oil and acrylic paint, sticks, bottle caps, soup cans, and other objects on a plywood background.
Across the way from Sitole, Marquis Leo of Palm Desert was surrounded by his brightly painted, glossy, ceramic tiles that varied in size from coasters to wall hangings.
The figures on each were painted on canvas first and embedded into the ceramic through a firing process.We offer a wide variety of high-quality standard ultrasonic sensor and controllers.
By the time it closed five years ago, mud was climbing the Point Phillips Hotel's exterior walls. The business, once known in different circles for its cheesesteaks, video poker machines and barroom brawls, had become a crumbling stack of asphalt shingle siding. The centuries-old tavern it had been — the place where Eckert's parents carved out a living —- had long since dissolved.
Then Dan Tanczos stepped in. In 2008, he sold his interest in a Bethlehem beer distributor and bought the old tavern, namesake of the unincorporated Moore Township village of Point Phillips. Tanczos spent the next five years researching its history, damming the water and buffing the place to a sheen it never had .
In a few weeks, Tanczos says, he'll reopen the hotel as a bar and restaurant with two apartments.Sol provides the world with high-performance solar roadway and solar street light solutions.
"I'm looking forward to giving the people of this area a nice place to go," he said, pressing his palms to the polished bar he installed in a room where a grocer once sold flour and salt. "Something they can be proud of."
Tanczos, a broad-shouldered guy with a smile stamped above a dimpled chin, hopes visitors will come from all over the Lehigh Valley.We are designing Mold Maker and specialty tooling has been the backbone of our business since our inception. But he renovated it — learning how to install floors and Victorian ceiling tiles on the fly — for people like Eckert and himself.
On Aug. 6, 1928, in the same room where Tanczos recently planted his bar, Eckert was born. Growing up, he could step out the front door of his parents' house behind the hotel and find forest and swampland to hunt deer and squirrels. He played shortstop and second base on the old Point Phillips Hotel baseball team. In the bar, his dad served Horlacher, Old Dutch and Neuwiler, three mugs for a quarter. State law required you to offer hotel rooms, so, in six rooms on the second floor, they changed sheets on beds nobody ever slept in.
Since those days, ranchers and Cape Cods have pushed the forest aside. The one-room Point Phillips School, where Eckert learned English and math, closed eons ago. Even the 4-foot-high concrete letters that spelled "Point Phillips" his father installed on the embankment across from the hotel — the town's version of the Hollywood sign — eventually toppled.
When Eckert built the stone house next to the hotel in 1956, his mom asked him to take over running the place. Eckert said no. Tavern ownership wasn't for him. In those days, he explained, the place was pretty rough. Brawls were par for the course for neighborhood bars all over the area, in Petersville and Beersville, for example.
The quickest way to add a fresh look to a room or any part of a home (door or even a floor) is a fresh coat of paint. Every year - paint manufacturers come out with a new color to satisfy whatever trends might be going on. “Neutrals such as C2’s Scout - which is a kind of taupe and Reindeer which is a darker brown, are still popular. But eggplant and lime green are among the trendy colors this year,” said Frank Agrusa, who owns Van Jaarsveld Decorating Center in Utica.
You can also add richness and depth by applying a specialty paint treatment. As one decorator explains Trompe L’oeil is French for an art technique that involves using realistic imagery to create an optical illusion. Instead of rolling out two coats of flat paint you can use several paints to create the look of linen or leather. There are also metallic paints that can be used to create patterns. One of the home office photos on Houzz showed a walls covered with a black paint - once dry becomes a chalkboard surface.
Sculptures, hand blown glass vases, tile work and jewelry sparkled in the sunlight Sunday as people made their way through artists’ displays at Frances Stevens Park.
The three-day Desert Art Festival continues from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. today with more than 100 artists presenting original work in all mediums of two- and three-dimensional art, including paintings in acrylic, oils and watercolors, photography and etchings, all sprawled out on the corner of North Palm Canyon Drive and Alejo Road.
It’s the diversity of art and the quality of the work that keeps festival-goer Marilyn Dorman of Boise, Idaho, coming back, she said, along with the scenery of the surrounding mountains.
She and her daughter, Diane Dorman, also of Boise,The term 'hands free access control' means the token that identifies a user is read from within a pocket or handbag. were looking over the mixed media work of Fortune Sitole of Oakland.
Sitole’s depictions of life in South Africa are made with recyclable materials — wood,We offer advanced technology products and services for parking guidance control. sand, aluminum, oil and acrylic paint, sticks, bottle caps, soup cans, and other objects on a plywood background.
Across the way from Sitole, Marquis Leo of Palm Desert was surrounded by his brightly painted, glossy, ceramic tiles that varied in size from coasters to wall hangings.
The figures on each were painted on canvas first and embedded into the ceramic through a firing process.We offer a wide variety of high-quality standard ultrasonic sensor and controllers.
Panera Bread Aims For Social 'Food Chain Reaction
As one key element in its new “Live Consciously” brand platform,
Panera Bread is launching a “Food Chain Reaction” social media campaign.
The overall “Live Consciously” campaign, from Cramer-Krasselt, Chicago, eschews restaurants’ typical focus on product offerings, instead aiming to articulate Panera’s “purpose-driven” brand philosophy -- including how it does business, the kinds of cultural values it wants to reflect, and the impact it wants to have on society.
The campaign -- which includes advertising on national cable and local television, radio, national print, outdoor and digital video and display ads as well as social -- is budgeted for approximately $70 million, about 30% higher than last year’s advertising spending, and the largest annual advertising investment in the company’s history.
Its tagline -- “Live consciously. Eat deliciously.” -- ties the original mission defined by the company’s founder and current chairman and co-CEO, Ron Shaich, of “adding value to people’s lives” to the idea of “eating deliciously,” sums up Lisa Lorenz, director, brand marketing-creative content for Panera.
“Instead of talking about what we do, the campaign talks about the how and why behind our practices,” Lorenz tells Marketing Daily.
In addition to its commitment to fresh, local ingredients sourcing (and antibiotic-free chicken), the chain has long engaged in community-support practices, including donating its unsold baked goods every evening to local food banks. Through the Panera Bread Foundation,We offer a wide variety of high-quality standard ultrasonic sensor and controllers. it’s also established Panera Cares Cafes – locations where people can order from the usual Panera menu and pay whatever they can afford (or nothing at all). The fifth café, in Boston, was opened in January. The others are in St. Louis, Detroit, Chicago and Portland,We offer advanced technology products and services for parking guidance control. Ore.
The campaign’s “Food Chain Reaction” social element builds on a partnership Panera began late last year with Feeding America, to enable Panera to donate food to Feeding America that is distributed by FA to food banks as needed within its national network, reports Lorenz.
The social initiative’s premise: Panera’s socially conscious customers are being encouraged to join with others to create online circles of five friends on a Food Chain Reaction platform in Panera’s Facebook page. For every circle of five friends formed, Panera will work with its Foundation to provide a bowl of its Low-Fat Vegetarian Black Bean soup to a person in need through its alliance with Feeding America.
The goal is to donate 500,000 bowls of soup by April 11 -- while also increasing awareness of America’s “food insecurity” crisis (one in six Americans don’t know where their next meal will be coming from, according to Feeding America).
Like the overall campaign, the Food Chain Reaction employs the concept of a circle to convey that “one conscious choice leads to another,” ultimately changing lives for the better, says Lorenz.
To drive awareness and participation in the donation program, Panera sent an advance email message on February 14 (the campaign launches formally on February 18) to the 9 million of its total 13 million My Panera loyalty program participants who have opted in to receive communications from the brand.
Beyond that, while a few of its paid digital ads will mention the Food Chain Reaction program, Panera will rely mainly on its social messaging (and a video about the program) and sharing about the program among its more than 1.5 million highly engaged Facebook fans, more than 88,000 Twitter followers, more than 6,000 Pinterest followers and other social word-of-mouth,The term 'hands free access control' means the token that identifies a user is read from within a pocket or handbag. according to Lorenz.
While several businesses are making great fuss of the hardships in the present economic crisis, Lien led Vinamilk to enter the list of largest businesses in the Asia-Pacific region with turnover of US$1 billion.
Lien says that she had anticipated the crisis and prepared measures to cope with bad times. Businesses must build a long term plan to take new initiatives in any circumstance. Every year the plan should be revised and reviewed to adapt to prevailing market conditions.
In 2012,We are designing Mold Maker and specialty tooling has been the backbone of our business since our inception. she made an impressive decision to import material for the entire year. In order to choose the time to do that,Sol provides the world with high-performance solar roadway and solar street light solutions. the company’s leader needed good forecast ability, experience of the market and production and trade strategies. This indispensable factor is called resolution.
That was only one of several decisions of nerves that she made in her leadership position over the last tens of years. For instance, she invited a boss of a multinational group to undertake marketing for Vinamilk because their own marketing activities were weak at that time.
To reach the current position, Vinamilk has faced strong competition from foreign milk which has been preferred over domestic products. As a result, Lien never accepts producing items that other companies have yielded much success in, but encourages new products.
She said that all products born at the company have raked in good profits. The company introduced yoghurt and ice cream for the first time in 1993, when people lined up to purchase them. They reclaimed their investment within three months.
Vinamilk inaugurated Dielac-- the first powder milk plant in Vietnam in 1987. In the beginning, their staff had to travel everywhere but still failed to sell their product because consumers just believed in foreign milk.
At present, powder milk of the company occupies 30 percent of the domestic market share and now Lien is targeting 50 percent.
Vinamilk is currently exporting its products to 23 countries in the world with turnover from Dielac powder milk alone reaching millions of US dollars a year.
The overall “Live Consciously” campaign, from Cramer-Krasselt, Chicago, eschews restaurants’ typical focus on product offerings, instead aiming to articulate Panera’s “purpose-driven” brand philosophy -- including how it does business, the kinds of cultural values it wants to reflect, and the impact it wants to have on society.
The campaign -- which includes advertising on national cable and local television, radio, national print, outdoor and digital video and display ads as well as social -- is budgeted for approximately $70 million, about 30% higher than last year’s advertising spending, and the largest annual advertising investment in the company’s history.
Its tagline -- “Live consciously. Eat deliciously.” -- ties the original mission defined by the company’s founder and current chairman and co-CEO, Ron Shaich, of “adding value to people’s lives” to the idea of “eating deliciously,” sums up Lisa Lorenz, director, brand marketing-creative content for Panera.
“Instead of talking about what we do, the campaign talks about the how and why behind our practices,” Lorenz tells Marketing Daily.
In addition to its commitment to fresh, local ingredients sourcing (and antibiotic-free chicken), the chain has long engaged in community-support practices, including donating its unsold baked goods every evening to local food banks. Through the Panera Bread Foundation,We offer a wide variety of high-quality standard ultrasonic sensor and controllers. it’s also established Panera Cares Cafes – locations where people can order from the usual Panera menu and pay whatever they can afford (or nothing at all). The fifth café, in Boston, was opened in January. The others are in St. Louis, Detroit, Chicago and Portland,We offer advanced technology products and services for parking guidance control. Ore.
The campaign’s “Food Chain Reaction” social element builds on a partnership Panera began late last year with Feeding America, to enable Panera to donate food to Feeding America that is distributed by FA to food banks as needed within its national network, reports Lorenz.
The social initiative’s premise: Panera’s socially conscious customers are being encouraged to join with others to create online circles of five friends on a Food Chain Reaction platform in Panera’s Facebook page. For every circle of five friends formed, Panera will work with its Foundation to provide a bowl of its Low-Fat Vegetarian Black Bean soup to a person in need through its alliance with Feeding America.
The goal is to donate 500,000 bowls of soup by April 11 -- while also increasing awareness of America’s “food insecurity” crisis (one in six Americans don’t know where their next meal will be coming from, according to Feeding America).
Like the overall campaign, the Food Chain Reaction employs the concept of a circle to convey that “one conscious choice leads to another,” ultimately changing lives for the better, says Lorenz.
To drive awareness and participation in the donation program, Panera sent an advance email message on February 14 (the campaign launches formally on February 18) to the 9 million of its total 13 million My Panera loyalty program participants who have opted in to receive communications from the brand.
Beyond that, while a few of its paid digital ads will mention the Food Chain Reaction program, Panera will rely mainly on its social messaging (and a video about the program) and sharing about the program among its more than 1.5 million highly engaged Facebook fans, more than 88,000 Twitter followers, more than 6,000 Pinterest followers and other social word-of-mouth,The term 'hands free access control' means the token that identifies a user is read from within a pocket or handbag. according to Lorenz.
While several businesses are making great fuss of the hardships in the present economic crisis, Lien led Vinamilk to enter the list of largest businesses in the Asia-Pacific region with turnover of US$1 billion.
Lien says that she had anticipated the crisis and prepared measures to cope with bad times. Businesses must build a long term plan to take new initiatives in any circumstance. Every year the plan should be revised and reviewed to adapt to prevailing market conditions.
In 2012,We are designing Mold Maker and specialty tooling has been the backbone of our business since our inception. she made an impressive decision to import material for the entire year. In order to choose the time to do that,Sol provides the world with high-performance solar roadway and solar street light solutions. the company’s leader needed good forecast ability, experience of the market and production and trade strategies. This indispensable factor is called resolution.
That was only one of several decisions of nerves that she made in her leadership position over the last tens of years. For instance, she invited a boss of a multinational group to undertake marketing for Vinamilk because their own marketing activities were weak at that time.
To reach the current position, Vinamilk has faced strong competition from foreign milk which has been preferred over domestic products. As a result, Lien never accepts producing items that other companies have yielded much success in, but encourages new products.
She said that all products born at the company have raked in good profits. The company introduced yoghurt and ice cream for the first time in 1993, when people lined up to purchase them. They reclaimed their investment within three months.
Vinamilk inaugurated Dielac-- the first powder milk plant in Vietnam in 1987. In the beginning, their staff had to travel everywhere but still failed to sell their product because consumers just believed in foreign milk.
At present, powder milk of the company occupies 30 percent of the domestic market share and now Lien is targeting 50 percent.
Vinamilk is currently exporting its products to 23 countries in the world with turnover from Dielac powder milk alone reaching millions of US dollars a year.
2013年2月17日 星期日
Stanford, UC Berkeley engineering a new frontier
Most people look at the cedar in Drew Endy's front yard and admire
its graceful green boughs, heavy with needles, sap and cones.
Endy sees something much different: an industrial manufacturing platform, waiting to be exploited.
"I dream we could someday reprogram trees that could self-assemble a computer chip in your front yard," exudes the brilliant and intense Stanford University scientist, who has emerged as a leading evangelist in the new field of synthetic biology.
One gene at a time, Endy and other elite teams of Bay Area scientists are striving to design and build organisms unlike anything made by Mother Nature.
It's not yet possible to create artificial life from scratch. But it's getting closer, through projects that essentially swap out a cell's original operating system for a lab-designed one. These made-to-order creations then can be put to work.
The Human Genome Project gave us the ability to read nature's instruction manual -- DNA -- like words in a book. But the real opportunities, scientists say, lie in our ability to not only read genetic code, but to write it, then build it using off-the-shelf chemical ingredients, strung together like holiday lights. It is the creation of new genomes -- and a new frontier in bioengineering.
Synthetic biology works because biological creatures are, in essence, programmable manufacturing systems. The DNA instruction manual buried inside every cell -- its software,Which Air purifier is right for you? in a sense -- can be replaced with a man-made version, giving us the ability to tell it what to make.
This presages the distant day when Endy's big Menlo Park cedar churns out computer chips, not cones. Or makes cancer-fighting drugs. Or fuels. Or building materials. Or anything else.
There are concerns about safety and ethics. In the wrong hands, lone villains or rogue regimes could unleash dangerous life forms. A review in 2010 by a White House commission concluded the field needs monitoring, but the risks are still limited.
Synthetic biology is different from genetic engineering,Professionals with the job title Mold Maker are on LinkedIn. which simply inserts a gene from one organism into another.
"Syn biologists" are engineers who construct whole new genomes -- using made-to-order parts from foundries, or "fabs," much as industry orders up cast and machined metal parts.
They might use naturally existing genes, but they apply them for a new purpose. They might redesign them. Or they might design genes from scratch, like Legos.
Frustrated by the lengthy, ad hoc and trial-and-error progress of current "bio-manufacturing" techniques, the National Science Foundation and the Pentagon are funding foundries to produce the stuff of life.
A $1.4 million National Science Foundation grant established the Emeryville-based BIOFAB lab, led by UC Berkeley and Stanford engineers. It is expected to produce thousands of free standardized DNA parts -- and the publicly available codes needed to assemble them.
The Pentagon's science wing,How cheaply can I build a solar power systems? the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, has awarded a coveted $3.If we don't carry the bobblehead you want we can make a personalized bobbleheads for you!2 million grant to Stanford and $8 million to Emeryville-based company Amyris, co-founded by UC Berkeley's Jay Keasling.
The DARPA program, known as Living Foundries, "is focused on developing currently unattainable technologies and products ... including fluoropolymers, antifungal agents, enzymes, lubricants and coatings, as well as biosensors," DARPA program director Alicia Jackson wrote in an email.
The commercial market has jumped in, as well, selling genes or stitched-together gene sequences. The components can be ordered from companies such as Agilent in Santa Clara or DNA2.0 in Menlo Park. All they need is a credit card.Bay State Cable Ties is a full line manufacturer of nylon cable ties and related products.
It's not easy to jump-start life. Almost any scientist can type out gene sequences on a computer, order the genes and then assemble them.
But getting them to communicate to do what you want them to do? That's far tougher.
Keasling has succeeded, making the first bona fide product using synthetic biology: a lifesaving anti-malarial medicine, artemisinin.
His team dismantled three organisms, extracted the genes they wanted, and then custom-built a new genome. But this wasn't just any genome: It held the instructions needed to produce chemicals for artemisinin.
Endy sees something much different: an industrial manufacturing platform, waiting to be exploited.
"I dream we could someday reprogram trees that could self-assemble a computer chip in your front yard," exudes the brilliant and intense Stanford University scientist, who has emerged as a leading evangelist in the new field of synthetic biology.
One gene at a time, Endy and other elite teams of Bay Area scientists are striving to design and build organisms unlike anything made by Mother Nature.
It's not yet possible to create artificial life from scratch. But it's getting closer, through projects that essentially swap out a cell's original operating system for a lab-designed one. These made-to-order creations then can be put to work.
The Human Genome Project gave us the ability to read nature's instruction manual -- DNA -- like words in a book. But the real opportunities, scientists say, lie in our ability to not only read genetic code, but to write it, then build it using off-the-shelf chemical ingredients, strung together like holiday lights. It is the creation of new genomes -- and a new frontier in bioengineering.
Synthetic biology works because biological creatures are, in essence, programmable manufacturing systems. The DNA instruction manual buried inside every cell -- its software,Which Air purifier is right for you? in a sense -- can be replaced with a man-made version, giving us the ability to tell it what to make.
This presages the distant day when Endy's big Menlo Park cedar churns out computer chips, not cones. Or makes cancer-fighting drugs. Or fuels. Or building materials. Or anything else.
There are concerns about safety and ethics. In the wrong hands, lone villains or rogue regimes could unleash dangerous life forms. A review in 2010 by a White House commission concluded the field needs monitoring, but the risks are still limited.
Synthetic biology is different from genetic engineering,Professionals with the job title Mold Maker are on LinkedIn. which simply inserts a gene from one organism into another.
"Syn biologists" are engineers who construct whole new genomes -- using made-to-order parts from foundries, or "fabs," much as industry orders up cast and machined metal parts.
They might use naturally existing genes, but they apply them for a new purpose. They might redesign them. Or they might design genes from scratch, like Legos.
Frustrated by the lengthy, ad hoc and trial-and-error progress of current "bio-manufacturing" techniques, the National Science Foundation and the Pentagon are funding foundries to produce the stuff of life.
A $1.4 million National Science Foundation grant established the Emeryville-based BIOFAB lab, led by UC Berkeley and Stanford engineers. It is expected to produce thousands of free standardized DNA parts -- and the publicly available codes needed to assemble them.
The Pentagon's science wing,How cheaply can I build a solar power systems? the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, has awarded a coveted $3.If we don't carry the bobblehead you want we can make a personalized bobbleheads for you!2 million grant to Stanford and $8 million to Emeryville-based company Amyris, co-founded by UC Berkeley's Jay Keasling.
The DARPA program, known as Living Foundries, "is focused on developing currently unattainable technologies and products ... including fluoropolymers, antifungal agents, enzymes, lubricants and coatings, as well as biosensors," DARPA program director Alicia Jackson wrote in an email.
The commercial market has jumped in, as well, selling genes or stitched-together gene sequences. The components can be ordered from companies such as Agilent in Santa Clara or DNA2.0 in Menlo Park. All they need is a credit card.Bay State Cable Ties is a full line manufacturer of nylon cable ties and related products.
It's not easy to jump-start life. Almost any scientist can type out gene sequences on a computer, order the genes and then assemble them.
But getting them to communicate to do what you want them to do? That's far tougher.
Keasling has succeeded, making the first bona fide product using synthetic biology: a lifesaving anti-malarial medicine, artemisinin.
His team dismantled three organisms, extracted the genes they wanted, and then custom-built a new genome. But this wasn't just any genome: It held the instructions needed to produce chemicals for artemisinin.
It’s time that Europe and the US took note
It’s been a long time coming. So far Russia has been a Cinderella
market for both ecommerce and the Internet economy more generally,
lagging far behind the US and playing catch-up with Europe. But plenty
of evidence suggests that this is changing – and changing quickly.
According to research by Morgan Stanley, the Russian ecommerce sector stood at around $12bn in 2012 – just 1.9% of total retail sales; by comparison, the global average is currently about 6.5%. But with ecommerce projected to grow by 35%, to 4.5% of Russian retail sales by 2015, and to 7% by 2020 – making the market worth $72bn – a tipping point is fast approaching.
As CEO of Ozon, Russia’s ecommerce market leader, I have witnessed this slow-motion revolution of the country’s retail landscape first-hand. It hasn’t been easy; a number of ‘legacy’ issues have hobbled the sector.Ein innovativer und moderner Werkzeugbau Formenbau. The foremost of these was Internet adoption. The connected population had to reach a critical mass to sustain a real and addressable ecommerce market.
In 2003, fewer than 10% of the Russian population were online; today, almost 50% are. That’s about 68 million people. Last year, Russia overtook Germany, France and the UK to become the leading online marketplace in Europe (by number of users). The significance of this cannot be over-stated and it’s proving a game-changer.
The second thing was the lack of competition in the sector. Only now are we are starting to see genuine players emerge in this market – and by that I mean companies with the level of investment required to build experienced teams and, thus, viable, growing businesses. In terms of investment, only recently has Russian ecommerce begun to attract the mega roubles.
The market first opened up to international investors after the IPOs of Yandex, the Moscow-based search company, and the free email service Mail.ru, both of which helped dramatically boost the profile of the Russian Internet market. I think Ozon was extremely lucky to attract international investors before that; we were very much the exception that proved the rule. But since those companies have gone public,Source crystal mosaic Products at Mosaics. a range of Russian ecommerce businesses have attracted Western venture capital and private equity.
Then there’s the matter of Russia’s infamously creaking business infrastructure. Bit by bit, from banking to logistics, things are improving. While it’s worth celebrating the fact that nearly 50% of the population is online, until recently broadband rollout wasn’t of sufficient quality to underpin the sector. Other factors,A ridiculously low price on this All-Purpose solar lantern by Gordon. too, are reshaping the ecommerce business, here. Russia’s burgeoning middle class is one. Today we see the first generation of youngish (the average age is 44) city-based time-poor Russians with disposable incomes for whom browsing and shopping online makes sense. Talent is another; ecommerce has gradually become recognised as a respectable profession for Russians and is starting to attract high quality graduates.
The nation has a pool of smart, well-educated IT people, which is creating a workforce of talented coders, user experience (UX) and Web designers at a scale and speed that many European countries would envy. As the number of Internet companies in Russia’s leading cities grows, so there are increasing numbers of jobs, creating a virtuous circle in which young software programmers might choose to stay in the country now, rather than go to the US or Europe instead. Indeed, we are at the stage today, where a young Russian computer engineer might turn down an offer, say, from eBay in San Francisco for a job with Yandex in Moscow.
But for all the exhilarating momentum, there remain significant bumps in the road ahead. That’s almost literally true in the case of distribution. Ozon has been described as the “Amazon of Russia”, which mean our distribution networks necessarily stretch right across all nine time zones of this vast, sprawling country. Yet while the population density is relatively high on the Western side, the further away you go from Moscow, the quicker it thins out, meaning that we end up delivering goods to far-flung cities with small populations. This doesn’t make commercial sense: when the order value of goods is $50-$100, a delivery price of $30-$50 just won’t wash.Totech Americas delivers a wide range of drycabinets for applications spanning electronics.
There is, of course, a national postal service in Russia and given the scale of its territory and the complexity of the infrastructure it serves, it’s actually doing a creditable job. However, it has yet to adapt to the burgeoning demands of ecommerce. While they are a key partner for us (they ship around 10% of our orders), we cannot rely upon them exclusively as our business expands. That’s why we chose to develop and run our own distribution system – which also delivers for third parties. But as interest in ecommerce surges, we need other distributors to enter the fray to create competition. This will happen, I’m sure – but it will take time.
Another major obstacle is payments. There remains widespread distrust of online payments in Russia and although there are predictions that credit card usage is set to take off, card penetration is relatively low. Moreover many of the cards used by Russians cannot be used online. Even those that can oblige users to go through off-putting and complex security processes implemented by banks.
Instead, Russia remains overwhelmingly a cash economy – a glaring anomaly in the Internet age,If we don't carry the bobblehead you want we can make a personalized bobbleheads for you! which is why 80% of Ozon’s sales are cash on delivery. Overcoming this cash-centric mindset, while simultaneously developing the online payments ecosystem presents unique challenges to ecommerce companies. We have to find the right means with which to nudge or incentivize customers to swap cash for cards (or online payments) by, for example, offering sizeable discounts.
According to research by Morgan Stanley, the Russian ecommerce sector stood at around $12bn in 2012 – just 1.9% of total retail sales; by comparison, the global average is currently about 6.5%. But with ecommerce projected to grow by 35%, to 4.5% of Russian retail sales by 2015, and to 7% by 2020 – making the market worth $72bn – a tipping point is fast approaching.
As CEO of Ozon, Russia’s ecommerce market leader, I have witnessed this slow-motion revolution of the country’s retail landscape first-hand. It hasn’t been easy; a number of ‘legacy’ issues have hobbled the sector.Ein innovativer und moderner Werkzeugbau Formenbau. The foremost of these was Internet adoption. The connected population had to reach a critical mass to sustain a real and addressable ecommerce market.
In 2003, fewer than 10% of the Russian population were online; today, almost 50% are. That’s about 68 million people. Last year, Russia overtook Germany, France and the UK to become the leading online marketplace in Europe (by number of users). The significance of this cannot be over-stated and it’s proving a game-changer.
The second thing was the lack of competition in the sector. Only now are we are starting to see genuine players emerge in this market – and by that I mean companies with the level of investment required to build experienced teams and, thus, viable, growing businesses. In terms of investment, only recently has Russian ecommerce begun to attract the mega roubles.
The market first opened up to international investors after the IPOs of Yandex, the Moscow-based search company, and the free email service Mail.ru, both of which helped dramatically boost the profile of the Russian Internet market. I think Ozon was extremely lucky to attract international investors before that; we were very much the exception that proved the rule. But since those companies have gone public,Source crystal mosaic Products at Mosaics. a range of Russian ecommerce businesses have attracted Western venture capital and private equity.
Then there’s the matter of Russia’s infamously creaking business infrastructure. Bit by bit, from banking to logistics, things are improving. While it’s worth celebrating the fact that nearly 50% of the population is online, until recently broadband rollout wasn’t of sufficient quality to underpin the sector. Other factors,A ridiculously low price on this All-Purpose solar lantern by Gordon. too, are reshaping the ecommerce business, here. Russia’s burgeoning middle class is one. Today we see the first generation of youngish (the average age is 44) city-based time-poor Russians with disposable incomes for whom browsing and shopping online makes sense. Talent is another; ecommerce has gradually become recognised as a respectable profession for Russians and is starting to attract high quality graduates.
The nation has a pool of smart, well-educated IT people, which is creating a workforce of talented coders, user experience (UX) and Web designers at a scale and speed that many European countries would envy. As the number of Internet companies in Russia’s leading cities grows, so there are increasing numbers of jobs, creating a virtuous circle in which young software programmers might choose to stay in the country now, rather than go to the US or Europe instead. Indeed, we are at the stage today, where a young Russian computer engineer might turn down an offer, say, from eBay in San Francisco for a job with Yandex in Moscow.
But for all the exhilarating momentum, there remain significant bumps in the road ahead. That’s almost literally true in the case of distribution. Ozon has been described as the “Amazon of Russia”, which mean our distribution networks necessarily stretch right across all nine time zones of this vast, sprawling country. Yet while the population density is relatively high on the Western side, the further away you go from Moscow, the quicker it thins out, meaning that we end up delivering goods to far-flung cities with small populations. This doesn’t make commercial sense: when the order value of goods is $50-$100, a delivery price of $30-$50 just won’t wash.Totech Americas delivers a wide range of drycabinets for applications spanning electronics.
There is, of course, a national postal service in Russia and given the scale of its territory and the complexity of the infrastructure it serves, it’s actually doing a creditable job. However, it has yet to adapt to the burgeoning demands of ecommerce. While they are a key partner for us (they ship around 10% of our orders), we cannot rely upon them exclusively as our business expands. That’s why we chose to develop and run our own distribution system – which also delivers for third parties. But as interest in ecommerce surges, we need other distributors to enter the fray to create competition. This will happen, I’m sure – but it will take time.
Another major obstacle is payments. There remains widespread distrust of online payments in Russia and although there are predictions that credit card usage is set to take off, card penetration is relatively low. Moreover many of the cards used by Russians cannot be used online. Even those that can oblige users to go through off-putting and complex security processes implemented by banks.
Instead, Russia remains overwhelmingly a cash economy – a glaring anomaly in the Internet age,If we don't carry the bobblehead you want we can make a personalized bobbleheads for you! which is why 80% of Ozon’s sales are cash on delivery. Overcoming this cash-centric mindset, while simultaneously developing the online payments ecosystem presents unique challenges to ecommerce companies. We have to find the right means with which to nudge or incentivize customers to swap cash for cards (or online payments) by, for example, offering sizeable discounts.
Libya’s national ID number and e-passport projects
The Libyan government announced on February 8 the issuance of NID
(National Identification) numbers to all Libyan citizens, and the
revelation of the new Libyan e-passport in a presentation by the Deputy
Prime Minister. These projects had been initially launched during the
time of the Gaddafi regime and were mostly operational when the
revolution started in 2011.
What’s puzzling in the announcement is the fact that the current government did not take into account all the flaws that marred these projects, specifically the NID Project, nor did it do a proper analysis or study of them. Most advanced countries do not have an NID system but rather a Social Number that is only relevant to the Tax and Social Services. Contrary to international standards in the field, Libya is still insisting on continuing a project that was based on a security-phobic regime and not concerned in facilitating services to its citizens.
Seemingly the Libyan government did not attempt to look into still valid signed contracts with another producing company and is rather moving toward contracting a new company to issue exactly the same document. Shockingly,Bay State Cable Ties is a full line manufacturer of nylon cable ties and related products. this previously contracted company has been paid more than 70 percent of the valwind turbineue of its contract, including the cost of the e-passport itself.
The e-passport is a document mainly composed of a chip that holds the data and the book itself. Any alterations to the book can be made anytime prior to printing. As such, there should not be a problem with the previous company, as all changes can be made since the documents haven’t been printed yet.Source crystal mosaic Products at Mosaics. It is not clear if the government is using the same company based on the previous paid contract or a new contract with full payment as this was not disclosed during the announcement. If they are using a new company then the fact remains that we have paid for two e-Passports and are using one.
The other dilemma is the early announcement of the e-passport prior to launching the actual passport issuance system. Issuing a passport does not mean the printing of the document only, but rather a complete system that is distributed across the nation allowing citizens to apply using a centralized database to ensure authenticity and avoid the issuing of duplicate passports.
The printing process is the final stage and it only produces the electronic document with the data encrypted in the chip. Completing and launching such a system is a timely and sensitive procedure. So how quickly did the government start this system and is it really operational with the necessary infrastructure and database that will allow such production? Or was this a premature announcement meant to temporarily please the Libyan citizens?
And more importantly didn’t the government promise transparency in the procurement of such projects, so when was this RFP announced? And on what basis was the contracting company selected?
On another note, the NID system remains based on the shattered records of the Civil Authority Registry that has proven to have an exaggerated number of unauthenticated family books and records. To make matters even worse,Ein innovativer und moderner Werkzeugbau Formenbau. the NID numbers were issued based on the Civil Authority Registry records without the physical authentication of the Libyan citizen holding that number,Totech Americas delivers a wide range of drycabinets for applications spanning electronics. according to the announcement.
How can the authorities be certain of the identity of the citizen based solely on records and not on the physical presence of the person himself or herself. The simple knowledge of a certain person’s Family Record Number, gives way to a criminal to misrepresent and assume that person’s identity by applying personally for the NID card.
The NID card is a complicated system and should not be implemented in a rush without taking into account a complete analysis of all scenarios and workflows. As a start, the Civil Authority must be reviewed and its Civil Registry must be separated from the family book. The unreliable database currently used by Libya’s civil registry needs a complete overhaul prior to making it the basis for any future systems in the country.
Determining the identity of a person is usually based on two or more ID’s and not an NID that can be corrupted or duplicated. As I have explained in my opening statement , National ID’s are mostly only used for Tax and Social Services with the understanding that they can be compromised.
What’s puzzling in the announcement is the fact that the current government did not take into account all the flaws that marred these projects, specifically the NID Project, nor did it do a proper analysis or study of them. Most advanced countries do not have an NID system but rather a Social Number that is only relevant to the Tax and Social Services. Contrary to international standards in the field, Libya is still insisting on continuing a project that was based on a security-phobic regime and not concerned in facilitating services to its citizens.
Seemingly the Libyan government did not attempt to look into still valid signed contracts with another producing company and is rather moving toward contracting a new company to issue exactly the same document. Shockingly,Bay State Cable Ties is a full line manufacturer of nylon cable ties and related products. this previously contracted company has been paid more than 70 percent of the valwind turbineue of its contract, including the cost of the e-passport itself.
The e-passport is a document mainly composed of a chip that holds the data and the book itself. Any alterations to the book can be made anytime prior to printing. As such, there should not be a problem with the previous company, as all changes can be made since the documents haven’t been printed yet.Source crystal mosaic Products at Mosaics. It is not clear if the government is using the same company based on the previous paid contract or a new contract with full payment as this was not disclosed during the announcement. If they are using a new company then the fact remains that we have paid for two e-Passports and are using one.
The other dilemma is the early announcement of the e-passport prior to launching the actual passport issuance system. Issuing a passport does not mean the printing of the document only, but rather a complete system that is distributed across the nation allowing citizens to apply using a centralized database to ensure authenticity and avoid the issuing of duplicate passports.
The printing process is the final stage and it only produces the electronic document with the data encrypted in the chip. Completing and launching such a system is a timely and sensitive procedure. So how quickly did the government start this system and is it really operational with the necessary infrastructure and database that will allow such production? Or was this a premature announcement meant to temporarily please the Libyan citizens?
And more importantly didn’t the government promise transparency in the procurement of such projects, so when was this RFP announced? And on what basis was the contracting company selected?
On another note, the NID system remains based on the shattered records of the Civil Authority Registry that has proven to have an exaggerated number of unauthenticated family books and records. To make matters even worse,Ein innovativer und moderner Werkzeugbau Formenbau. the NID numbers were issued based on the Civil Authority Registry records without the physical authentication of the Libyan citizen holding that number,Totech Americas delivers a wide range of drycabinets for applications spanning electronics. according to the announcement.
How can the authorities be certain of the identity of the citizen based solely on records and not on the physical presence of the person himself or herself. The simple knowledge of a certain person’s Family Record Number, gives way to a criminal to misrepresent and assume that person’s identity by applying personally for the NID card.
The NID card is a complicated system and should not be implemented in a rush without taking into account a complete analysis of all scenarios and workflows. As a start, the Civil Authority must be reviewed and its Civil Registry must be separated from the family book. The unreliable database currently used by Libya’s civil registry needs a complete overhaul prior to making it the basis for any future systems in the country.
Determining the identity of a person is usually based on two or more ID’s and not an NID that can be corrupted or duplicated. As I have explained in my opening statement , National ID’s are mostly only used for Tax and Social Services with the understanding that they can be compromised.
BART workers' absences cost agency millions
BART’s station agents and train operators have a troubling history of
not showing up for work — and it’s costing the agency significantly in a
tough financial time.
On any given day, the rate of unscheduled absences for BART train operators is 11.86 percent, and 12.77 percent for the agency’s station agents, according to information obtained through a public records request. The absences translate to roughly one in eight workers missing their scheduled shifts each day.
The train operators and station agents have worse absentee rates than other employees on BART’s payroll, but the current numbers are an improvement. Last fiscal year, train operators logged a 13.81 percent unscheduled absence rate, and station agents were at 13.20 percent. Unscheduled absences comprise sick days, military leave,Compare prices and buy all brands of solar panel for home power systems and by the pallet. jury duty and family emergency situations.
By missing so many of their scheduled shifts, the workers — both groups are members of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1555 — put a heavy financial burden on the agency. BART must find replacement workers for each shift that a station agent or train operator misses in order to keep the system running, costs that are often paid in overtime. According to BART, the average worker represented by the ATU racks up $16,590 in overtime pay each year. With 807 full-time union workers on the payroll — nearly all of whom are station agents or operators — the added costs account for $13.7 million a year in extra wages for the agency’s operating budget to absorb.
“Not only do these absences affect transit service, but they’re very expensive because we have to backfill them with overtime,” said Tom Radulovich, president of the BART board of directors. “This is clearly an issue that the district needs to confront.”
BART is already scrambling to identify about $6 billion over the next 10 years to meet core system needs. The agency is considering raising revenue — through bigger parking fees and an extension of its biennial fare increase policy — to help close that shortfall, but directly impact riders.
Antonette Bryant, president of ATU Local 1555, declined to comment on the absentee numbers since she did not have an opportunity to independently verify the data obtained by The San Francisco Examiner. Bryant said BART management has approached the union about its attendance numbers, but only on an informal and general basis.
She did say that the agency’s strong operating performance is the result of the hard work of ATU members.Like most of you, I'd seen the broken buy mosaic decorated pieces.
“Every workforce faces these type of issues — illnesses, injury, accidents,The stone mosaic series is a grand collection of coordinating Travertine mosaics. family emergencies, you name it,” Bryant said. “The bottom line is BART has a better than 95 percent on-time record. We’re proud of the service we provide. BART works and we make it work.”
The agency has an action plan designed to reduce unexcused absences, according to a BART response to the public records request. The agency’s initiative includes measures to cut down on the number of workplace incidents and limit their impact if they do occur, improve case management for employees with health issues and strengthen compliance in areas related to absences,Site describes services including Plastic Mould. the statement said.
In that same response, the agency noted that the unscheduled absentee rates of station agents and operators are comparable to levels at other major transit agencies.
Muni’s transit operators — a group that has been much-maligned in the past for absenteeism — have an unscheduled absence rate of just 8.7 percent this year, and for the month of October that number dipped to 6.6 percent. Radulovich also noted that Muni drivers frequently interact with riders, an environment that can be much more stressful than BART’s relatively remote train operators.We offers custom Injection Mold parts in as fast as 1 day.
Contract negotiations between BART and ATU are set to begin April 1, the first talks since a contentious bargaining session in 2009 during which workers repeatedly threatened to strike. BART spokeswoman Alicia Trost said the union members’ attendance performance could be part of the discussions.
On any given day, the rate of unscheduled absences for BART train operators is 11.86 percent, and 12.77 percent for the agency’s station agents, according to information obtained through a public records request. The absences translate to roughly one in eight workers missing their scheduled shifts each day.
The train operators and station agents have worse absentee rates than other employees on BART’s payroll, but the current numbers are an improvement. Last fiscal year, train operators logged a 13.81 percent unscheduled absence rate, and station agents were at 13.20 percent. Unscheduled absences comprise sick days, military leave,Compare prices and buy all brands of solar panel for home power systems and by the pallet. jury duty and family emergency situations.
By missing so many of their scheduled shifts, the workers — both groups are members of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1555 — put a heavy financial burden on the agency. BART must find replacement workers for each shift that a station agent or train operator misses in order to keep the system running, costs that are often paid in overtime. According to BART, the average worker represented by the ATU racks up $16,590 in overtime pay each year. With 807 full-time union workers on the payroll — nearly all of whom are station agents or operators — the added costs account for $13.7 million a year in extra wages for the agency’s operating budget to absorb.
“Not only do these absences affect transit service, but they’re very expensive because we have to backfill them with overtime,” said Tom Radulovich, president of the BART board of directors. “This is clearly an issue that the district needs to confront.”
BART is already scrambling to identify about $6 billion over the next 10 years to meet core system needs. The agency is considering raising revenue — through bigger parking fees and an extension of its biennial fare increase policy — to help close that shortfall, but directly impact riders.
Antonette Bryant, president of ATU Local 1555, declined to comment on the absentee numbers since she did not have an opportunity to independently verify the data obtained by The San Francisco Examiner. Bryant said BART management has approached the union about its attendance numbers, but only on an informal and general basis.
She did say that the agency’s strong operating performance is the result of the hard work of ATU members.Like most of you, I'd seen the broken buy mosaic decorated pieces.
“Every workforce faces these type of issues — illnesses, injury, accidents,The stone mosaic series is a grand collection of coordinating Travertine mosaics. family emergencies, you name it,” Bryant said. “The bottom line is BART has a better than 95 percent on-time record. We’re proud of the service we provide. BART works and we make it work.”
The agency has an action plan designed to reduce unexcused absences, according to a BART response to the public records request. The agency’s initiative includes measures to cut down on the number of workplace incidents and limit their impact if they do occur, improve case management for employees with health issues and strengthen compliance in areas related to absences,Site describes services including Plastic Mould. the statement said.
In that same response, the agency noted that the unscheduled absentee rates of station agents and operators are comparable to levels at other major transit agencies.
Muni’s transit operators — a group that has been much-maligned in the past for absenteeism — have an unscheduled absence rate of just 8.7 percent this year, and for the month of October that number dipped to 6.6 percent. Radulovich also noted that Muni drivers frequently interact with riders, an environment that can be much more stressful than BART’s relatively remote train operators.We offers custom Injection Mold parts in as fast as 1 day.
Contract negotiations between BART and ATU are set to begin April 1, the first talks since a contentious bargaining session in 2009 during which workers repeatedly threatened to strike. BART spokeswoman Alicia Trost said the union members’ attendance performance could be part of the discussions.
Orioles' Wieters relishing quiet leadership role
Tasked with turning around the once-proud franchise with two months
left in the 2010 season, Showalter pulled the team's franchise player
aside and suggested it was time to "take the gloves off" and take
control a little bit.
Heralded as a savior from the second he was taken in the first round of the 2007 amateur draft, Wieters knew if the Orioles were going to compete for the playoffs, he needed to set the tone. All he's done in his three-plus seasons in the majors is become the stoic cornerstone for one of baseball's most promising teams.
Perhaps the most notable aspect to Showalter is Wieters' manner. The catcher doesn't make it personal. And he doesn't tell the pitcher one thing and the coaches another.
"He doesn't say something to (bench coach) John (Russell) or I that he's not going to say to the player," Showalter said. "It's very seldom. He picks his spots. It's not like he's going to talk to us and not talk to them. Sometimes he talks to them before he talks to us."
Wieters handles Baltimore's pitching the staff the way he'd want to be handled himself. Though he's been pegged for stardom for years, he never acted like anything more than one of the gang.
Pitcher Brian Matusz came up through the minors with Wieters, and hardly notices a change between the guy hanging out at the edge of the clubhouse now and the fresh-faced kid he met in the Arizona Fall League in 2008.
"I thought right away 'this guy is a big league catcher,'" Matusz said. "He's so smart back there behind the plate and knowledgeable of the game. He's always learning, picking up new things."
Even coming off a season in which he won his first Gold Glove, Wieters is intent on improving. Asked by Showalter what he'd like to work on during spring training, Wieters rattled off a handful of items on his 'to-do' list.
Thousands of Michigan residents have collected Pell Grants without attending classes in the past year, costing Michigan's colleges millions of dollars that have to be paid back to the federal government.
At Henry Ford Community College, $4.1 million -- about 10% of the money the college received in Pell Grants -- needs to be paid back to the U.S. Department of Education this year, a move that will likely contribute to a tuition increase at the Dearborn school.
The problem isn't limited to Michigan, and it isn't new, but experts say it's getting worse.
No one knows exactly how much these Pell scammers are costing taxpayers because central record-keeping is spotty at best and often out of date. Mark Kantrowitz,The stone mosaic series is a grand collection of coordinating Travertine mosaics. publisher of FinAid.org and a leading expert on financial aid issues, estimates that 3.6% of all Pell Grant recipients across the nation are collecting the money fraudulently.Compare prices and buy all brands of solar panel for home power systems and by the pallet. That means an estimated $1.2 billion in taxpayer money was lost last school year alone, when the federal government gave out $33.5 billion in Pell Grants.
Although colleges and universities can go after these scammers, called Pell jumpers or Pell runners, it's an uphill battle to recover the money. The U.S. Department of Education is expected to address the issue this year, experts said, which could mean more measures that help slow down fraud but could delay payments, potentially hurting those who depend on the grants.
Pell Grants, which max out at $5,500 per year, are available to low- and mid-income residents and can be used for tuition and other costs, including rent, groceries and transportation. If a student receives a Pell Grant and disappears with the money, the college or university is on the hook to repay both the tuition costs and the rest of the money given to the student.
The fraud is particularly pronounced at community colleges because of their lower tuition rates. A student can sign up for a full load of classes for as little as $700 per semester at some Michigan community colleges and then pocket the leftovers from the $2,750 maximum grant.
"You'll only hear about this at low-cost schools,Site describes services including Plastic Mould." said Karen McCarthy,We offers custom Injection Mold parts in as fast as 1 day. a policy analyst for the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators.Like most of you, I'd seen the broken buy mosaic decorated pieces. "If the costs are high, the students won't get any of their money back."
The grants, created in 1965, are the building blocks of financial aid packages for students attending schools from the University of Michigan to the Kalamazoo Beauty Academy.
Financial aid officers at community colleges across the state say that without the grants, hundreds of thousands of Michigan residents would be unable to attend college.
"It's a real tight balance between not interfering with access to higher education, but making sure it's used appropriately," said Roger Miller, the financial aid director at Kalamazoo Valley Community College.
Heralded as a savior from the second he was taken in the first round of the 2007 amateur draft, Wieters knew if the Orioles were going to compete for the playoffs, he needed to set the tone. All he's done in his three-plus seasons in the majors is become the stoic cornerstone for one of baseball's most promising teams.
Perhaps the most notable aspect to Showalter is Wieters' manner. The catcher doesn't make it personal. And he doesn't tell the pitcher one thing and the coaches another.
"He doesn't say something to (bench coach) John (Russell) or I that he's not going to say to the player," Showalter said. "It's very seldom. He picks his spots. It's not like he's going to talk to us and not talk to them. Sometimes he talks to them before he talks to us."
Wieters handles Baltimore's pitching the staff the way he'd want to be handled himself. Though he's been pegged for stardom for years, he never acted like anything more than one of the gang.
Pitcher Brian Matusz came up through the minors with Wieters, and hardly notices a change between the guy hanging out at the edge of the clubhouse now and the fresh-faced kid he met in the Arizona Fall League in 2008.
"I thought right away 'this guy is a big league catcher,'" Matusz said. "He's so smart back there behind the plate and knowledgeable of the game. He's always learning, picking up new things."
Even coming off a season in which he won his first Gold Glove, Wieters is intent on improving. Asked by Showalter what he'd like to work on during spring training, Wieters rattled off a handful of items on his 'to-do' list.
Thousands of Michigan residents have collected Pell Grants without attending classes in the past year, costing Michigan's colleges millions of dollars that have to be paid back to the federal government.
At Henry Ford Community College, $4.1 million -- about 10% of the money the college received in Pell Grants -- needs to be paid back to the U.S. Department of Education this year, a move that will likely contribute to a tuition increase at the Dearborn school.
The problem isn't limited to Michigan, and it isn't new, but experts say it's getting worse.
No one knows exactly how much these Pell scammers are costing taxpayers because central record-keeping is spotty at best and often out of date. Mark Kantrowitz,The stone mosaic series is a grand collection of coordinating Travertine mosaics. publisher of FinAid.org and a leading expert on financial aid issues, estimates that 3.6% of all Pell Grant recipients across the nation are collecting the money fraudulently.Compare prices and buy all brands of solar panel for home power systems and by the pallet. That means an estimated $1.2 billion in taxpayer money was lost last school year alone, when the federal government gave out $33.5 billion in Pell Grants.
Although colleges and universities can go after these scammers, called Pell jumpers or Pell runners, it's an uphill battle to recover the money. The U.S. Department of Education is expected to address the issue this year, experts said, which could mean more measures that help slow down fraud but could delay payments, potentially hurting those who depend on the grants.
Pell Grants, which max out at $5,500 per year, are available to low- and mid-income residents and can be used for tuition and other costs, including rent, groceries and transportation. If a student receives a Pell Grant and disappears with the money, the college or university is on the hook to repay both the tuition costs and the rest of the money given to the student.
The fraud is particularly pronounced at community colleges because of their lower tuition rates. A student can sign up for a full load of classes for as little as $700 per semester at some Michigan community colleges and then pocket the leftovers from the $2,750 maximum grant.
"You'll only hear about this at low-cost schools,Site describes services including Plastic Mould." said Karen McCarthy,We offers custom Injection Mold parts in as fast as 1 day. a policy analyst for the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators.Like most of you, I'd seen the broken buy mosaic decorated pieces. "If the costs are high, the students won't get any of their money back."
The grants, created in 1965, are the building blocks of financial aid packages for students attending schools from the University of Michigan to the Kalamazoo Beauty Academy.
Financial aid officers at community colleges across the state say that without the grants, hundreds of thousands of Michigan residents would be unable to attend college.
"It's a real tight balance between not interfering with access to higher education, but making sure it's used appropriately," said Roger Miller, the financial aid director at Kalamazoo Valley Community College.
2013年2月16日 星期六
Benjamin Britten biographies by Paul Kildea and Neil Powell
"My bloody opera stinks & that's all there is to it," Britten
grumbled to his life partner, the tenor Peter Pears, in June 1944. He
was referring to Peter Grimes, the sea-tossed tale of the lonely Suffolk
fisherman which soon joined the pantheon of 20th-century masterpieces
and remains one of the composer's most arresting works. It's a
characteristic remark, not for its language but for its furious
self-doubt. This dazzling musician rarely felt confident of his
achievements, yet at the same time had that complicated arrogance which
any artist needs to survive.
A century after his birth in Lowestoft, the youngest of four children born to a dentist and his wife, Britten's life and work are being celebrated with a level of excitement no one can have imagined when he died in 1976. True, he was famous and had his array of honours and titles and his burgeoning festival in the Suffolk seaside town of Aldeburgh. He had, too, a large circle of devoted friends, and a far smaller knot of those he had cast aside, often in a silly fit of pique.
His death made the headlines in the broadsheets. Britten was spoken of as the greatest British composer since Purcell, whom he revered, and Elgar, whom he did not. Children may have been raised on his Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra, but most of his enormous output of operas (Billy Budd, The Turn of the Screw, Gloriana, Death in Venice among them), song cycles and choral works, string quartets and concertos was of interest chiefly to the serious music lover.
Today, for entirely nonmusical reasons, Britten has become the subject of excited gossip. Paul Kildea's book has caused titivation by suggesting that the composer's death was hastened by tertiary syphilis, a theory roundly denounced by medical experts and those surviving doctors who were there. Stories about the composer's taste for pretty boys have turned from tendency – which is certainly all it amounted to, even if the desire was real enough – to scandalous fact, without any foundation or new evidence.
These two new biographies, one by a Britten authority who was head of music at Aldeburgh from 1999 to 2002, one by a Suffolk local, the poet and biographer Neil Powell, do nothing to change that view, but assess the evidence dispassionately and mostly sensibly. Neither knew Britten. Both have waded through the acres of letters, diaries and interviews and crafted their own strong narratives.
Luckily the volumes are complementary. Kildea's, dense and annotated, delves deeper into the past, sifting over existing material with forensic attention as to how events relate to the music. Powell instead carries the torch into the present, naming those singers now performing the work anew, painting a portrait of the Aldeburgh festival as it is today. His account has more air and light, and brings alive the sense of landscape – the East Anglian coast, the marshes, the wind and waves – which have coloured so much of Britten's music.Can you spot the answer in the fridge magnet?
Tweedy, public schoolish,Other companies want a piece of that iPhone headset action formal in manner, Britten was no extrovert. A superb pianist, performing made him sick with nerves. There was nothing he liked more than to lock himself away in Suffolk and get on with writing music. By contrast, Pears liked the bright lights, dashing back to London when the rural pace became too slow for him. They were together for 35 years, somehow negotiating the illegality of their relationship without fuss. Powell writes with a particular passion and psychological insight, concluding: "[Britten] and Pears taught gay men of my generation the astonishing lesson that it was possible for a homosexual couple to live decently and unapologetically in provincial England."
Kildea is painstaking in providing sociopolitical background about Britain before, during and after the wartime years. The syphilis business takes up merely a few pages, which frankly is all it deserves, as no doubt Kildea would agree. He must be embarrassed by the quick collapse of his theory. From Powell we comprehend Britten's day-to-day existence. We know just how many minutes it took the prep-school boy to get home for his tea – about three – which may be a reason he didn't enjoy the behind-the-bike shed experiences of his more worldly fellow pupils.
Kildea tells us about the young Britten's distaste for his teacher, the composer John Ireland, who was often drunk and probably made a pass at his pupil. It falls to Powell, however, to mention that Ireland lived in Gunter Grove, Chelsea, and on one occasion urinated on the carpet.Wear a whimsical Disney ear cap straight from the Disney Theme Parks! It depends what you are after. Each book deserves its readers.
From the sandy shores of Rio de Janeiro's wealthy beach areas to the darkest corners of its shantytowns, vibrant graffiti can be found decorating various buildings. A graffiti artist is painting on Leblon beach.
"Because Rio de Janeiro is a very joyful city, there's this tropical thing. The colors, the sun and graffiti are colorful. There's a very strong expression. I think that sometimes without even having great effects, the color is enough to send a message. Personally, I think that graffiti and Rio de Janeiro go hand in hand. Rio de Janeiro has its grey areas that we try to color to change that image."
Kledison Barbosa, who lives on the outskirts of Rio, says graffiti can help change the stereotypes of the city's slums.
"This is for communities that really need graffiti. The concept takes away the idea that these communities are places you cannot venture into. There has to be some kind of art to attract people's attention."
In 2010, when the Christ the Redeemer statue was spray-painted with signatures and symbols, a type of graffiti called "pichacao" in Portuguese, Rio de Janeiro's secretary for conservation and public services officials decided to stamp out such vandalism.
Carlos Osorio, the city's current secretary for conservation and public services, explains.We've got a plastic card to suit you.
"What we are trying to do is encourage graffiti and at the same time decide with the graffiti artists what is acceptable and what is unacceptable from an urban point of view. The communities have been immensely affected by the pichacao (graffiti tags) issue, and graffiti art is starting to turn this around."
Two years later, the Brazilian city has again been covered in graffiti—but this time with the city's endorsement.
Gallery owner Andre Brettas is a member of a street art gang who has connections to the office of the secretary of conservation and public services.
"They called me to find out who had done it.Comprehensive Wi-Fi and RFID tag by Aeroscout to accurately locate and track any asset or person. Instead of repressing the pichacao, I suggested we create a pro-graffiti movement."
After that phone call, Brettas set up the R.U.A. Institute for Urban Artistic Revitalization. The institute allows street artists to formally work hand in hand with city authorities on projects that replace ugly graffiti tags with vibrant artwork. It is unusual to be able to walk for more than two blocks in Rio without seeing some kind of street art.
Here is Carlos Roberto Osorio, Rio de Janeiro's secretary for conservation and public services, again.
"Our perception of graffiti has changed. The communities used to suffer immensely from the pichacao issue, and now graffiti is turning this game around."
Rio is a major centre for the Art Deco style of architecture. And the statue of Christ the Redeemer on Corcovado is considered a classic example of Art Deco work.
However, even this iconic statue was vandalized. After that, the city in partnership with the R.U.A. Institute and other private sponsors facilitated several urban art projects. The artists were provided with paint and security guards and given an assurance that their graffiti would not be removed.
In 2012, a gigantic wall next to a train station in a slum, was painted by 15 street artists during a weeklong project approved by the city at the request of the train station.
In the past, these artists would have been chased away or arrested.
Graffiti artist Bruno Big has seen several positive examples of how graffiti has revitalized formerly abandoned areas of the city.
"When I started painting here in Rio I felt a lot of freedom and interaction with the public with the people living here as well. Nowadays, we get to know people. Here they know me by my name. One of the most interesting things about graffiti is this exchange that we have when we paint in the streets."
A century after his birth in Lowestoft, the youngest of four children born to a dentist and his wife, Britten's life and work are being celebrated with a level of excitement no one can have imagined when he died in 1976. True, he was famous and had his array of honours and titles and his burgeoning festival in the Suffolk seaside town of Aldeburgh. He had, too, a large circle of devoted friends, and a far smaller knot of those he had cast aside, often in a silly fit of pique.
His death made the headlines in the broadsheets. Britten was spoken of as the greatest British composer since Purcell, whom he revered, and Elgar, whom he did not. Children may have been raised on his Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra, but most of his enormous output of operas (Billy Budd, The Turn of the Screw, Gloriana, Death in Venice among them), song cycles and choral works, string quartets and concertos was of interest chiefly to the serious music lover.
Today, for entirely nonmusical reasons, Britten has become the subject of excited gossip. Paul Kildea's book has caused titivation by suggesting that the composer's death was hastened by tertiary syphilis, a theory roundly denounced by medical experts and those surviving doctors who were there. Stories about the composer's taste for pretty boys have turned from tendency – which is certainly all it amounted to, even if the desire was real enough – to scandalous fact, without any foundation or new evidence.
These two new biographies, one by a Britten authority who was head of music at Aldeburgh from 1999 to 2002, one by a Suffolk local, the poet and biographer Neil Powell, do nothing to change that view, but assess the evidence dispassionately and mostly sensibly. Neither knew Britten. Both have waded through the acres of letters, diaries and interviews and crafted their own strong narratives.
Luckily the volumes are complementary. Kildea's, dense and annotated, delves deeper into the past, sifting over existing material with forensic attention as to how events relate to the music. Powell instead carries the torch into the present, naming those singers now performing the work anew, painting a portrait of the Aldeburgh festival as it is today. His account has more air and light, and brings alive the sense of landscape – the East Anglian coast, the marshes, the wind and waves – which have coloured so much of Britten's music.Can you spot the answer in the fridge magnet?
Tweedy, public schoolish,Other companies want a piece of that iPhone headset action formal in manner, Britten was no extrovert. A superb pianist, performing made him sick with nerves. There was nothing he liked more than to lock himself away in Suffolk and get on with writing music. By contrast, Pears liked the bright lights, dashing back to London when the rural pace became too slow for him. They were together for 35 years, somehow negotiating the illegality of their relationship without fuss. Powell writes with a particular passion and psychological insight, concluding: "[Britten] and Pears taught gay men of my generation the astonishing lesson that it was possible for a homosexual couple to live decently and unapologetically in provincial England."
Kildea is painstaking in providing sociopolitical background about Britain before, during and after the wartime years. The syphilis business takes up merely a few pages, which frankly is all it deserves, as no doubt Kildea would agree. He must be embarrassed by the quick collapse of his theory. From Powell we comprehend Britten's day-to-day existence. We know just how many minutes it took the prep-school boy to get home for his tea – about three – which may be a reason he didn't enjoy the behind-the-bike shed experiences of his more worldly fellow pupils.
Kildea tells us about the young Britten's distaste for his teacher, the composer John Ireland, who was often drunk and probably made a pass at his pupil. It falls to Powell, however, to mention that Ireland lived in Gunter Grove, Chelsea, and on one occasion urinated on the carpet.Wear a whimsical Disney ear cap straight from the Disney Theme Parks! It depends what you are after. Each book deserves its readers.
From the sandy shores of Rio de Janeiro's wealthy beach areas to the darkest corners of its shantytowns, vibrant graffiti can be found decorating various buildings. A graffiti artist is painting on Leblon beach.
"Because Rio de Janeiro is a very joyful city, there's this tropical thing. The colors, the sun and graffiti are colorful. There's a very strong expression. I think that sometimes without even having great effects, the color is enough to send a message. Personally, I think that graffiti and Rio de Janeiro go hand in hand. Rio de Janeiro has its grey areas that we try to color to change that image."
Kledison Barbosa, who lives on the outskirts of Rio, says graffiti can help change the stereotypes of the city's slums.
"This is for communities that really need graffiti. The concept takes away the idea that these communities are places you cannot venture into. There has to be some kind of art to attract people's attention."
In 2010, when the Christ the Redeemer statue was spray-painted with signatures and symbols, a type of graffiti called "pichacao" in Portuguese, Rio de Janeiro's secretary for conservation and public services officials decided to stamp out such vandalism.
Carlos Osorio, the city's current secretary for conservation and public services, explains.We've got a plastic card to suit you.
"What we are trying to do is encourage graffiti and at the same time decide with the graffiti artists what is acceptable and what is unacceptable from an urban point of view. The communities have been immensely affected by the pichacao (graffiti tags) issue, and graffiti art is starting to turn this around."
Two years later, the Brazilian city has again been covered in graffiti—but this time with the city's endorsement.
Gallery owner Andre Brettas is a member of a street art gang who has connections to the office of the secretary of conservation and public services.
"They called me to find out who had done it.Comprehensive Wi-Fi and RFID tag by Aeroscout to accurately locate and track any asset or person. Instead of repressing the pichacao, I suggested we create a pro-graffiti movement."
After that phone call, Brettas set up the R.U.A. Institute for Urban Artistic Revitalization. The institute allows street artists to formally work hand in hand with city authorities on projects that replace ugly graffiti tags with vibrant artwork. It is unusual to be able to walk for more than two blocks in Rio without seeing some kind of street art.
Here is Carlos Roberto Osorio, Rio de Janeiro's secretary for conservation and public services, again.
"Our perception of graffiti has changed. The communities used to suffer immensely from the pichacao issue, and now graffiti is turning this game around."
Rio is a major centre for the Art Deco style of architecture. And the statue of Christ the Redeemer on Corcovado is considered a classic example of Art Deco work.
However, even this iconic statue was vandalized. After that, the city in partnership with the R.U.A. Institute and other private sponsors facilitated several urban art projects. The artists were provided with paint and security guards and given an assurance that their graffiti would not be removed.
In 2012, a gigantic wall next to a train station in a slum, was painted by 15 street artists during a weeklong project approved by the city at the request of the train station.
In the past, these artists would have been chased away or arrested.
Graffiti artist Bruno Big has seen several positive examples of how graffiti has revitalized formerly abandoned areas of the city.
"When I started painting here in Rio I felt a lot of freedom and interaction with the public with the people living here as well. Nowadays, we get to know people. Here they know me by my name. One of the most interesting things about graffiti is this exchange that we have when we paint in the streets."
2013年2月5日 星期二
Why Is It So Hard To Make A 100 Percent American Hand Dryer?
Fifteen years ago, Denis Gagnon bought a company that made a product
nobody really liked: hand dryers. But he quickly managed to turn
Massachusetts-based Excel Dryer into an innovator with the Xlerator — a
high-speed dryer that cut drying time from more than 30 seconds to less
than 15.
The Xlerator, assembled at a plant in East Longmeadow, is "Made in USA Certified" — meaning at least 75 percent of the product is made of U.S. content. The foundries that cast most of its metal components are American, and the control boards are assembled locally. Excel polishes and electroplates the dryer covers in-house,Welcome to Find the right laser Engraver or laser marking machine . and, in teams of four, builds the components into a working dryer.
Today, Excel Dryer has 12 times the sales revenue it had in its pre-Xlerator days. It's kept 38 manufacturing jobs in the U.S. through some creative research and development, including a shop of retired MIT scientists who have invented things like an emergency flashlight, an automated shower and even a putter with an enlarged sweet spot.
So why is the motor inside the Xlerator — part of that remaining 25 percent — not made in the U.S.? Why does it come from a company in Hong Kong?
"What we need to do to be cost effective is to source a motor that's used in more than one industry, and then tailor-make a couple adjustments to make it fit our product,Manufactures and supplies laser marker equipment." Gagnon tells All Things Considered host Robert Siegel. "That's the only way we can cost effectively do it."
The company that makes the Xlerator's motor, Johnson Electric, has a very American-sounding name and an office in Shelton, Conn. But it's very much an Asian company that's traded on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. And in the world of small motors, it is a big, big player.
According to Johnson Electric's website, the company makes motors for kitchen appliances, hair dryers, toothbrushes, power tools, printers, DVD players, copiers and vending machines. For cars, the company makes door locks, mirrors, wipers, washers, brakes, radiator fans and fuel pumps.
Gagnon employs 38 people on his factory floor. In contrast, Johnson Electric's 2012 annual report says the company's "global headcount including contract employees is approximately 38,000 people."
As a small business, Gagnon says his best deal was getting Johnson Electric to adapt one of its many motors to the Xlerator's specs.
"Tooling up a special motor for Xlerator, when we didn't know if we even had a product, was kinda out of the question at the time," Gagnon says. "We settled in on a high-volume motor that they could make some adaptations to. And frankly, that turned out to be good decision."
Johnson Electric is one of two major players in nonindustrial motors, along with a Japan-based company, says Alex Chausovsky, who follows motors for the market intelligence firm IHS.
Almost all the small motors in virtually every motor-powered consumer product come from the region, he says — from the vibration motors in cellphones to hair dryers and microwaves.
Johnson Electric and its major competitor,We've had a lot of people asking where we had our make your own bobblehead made. Japan's Mabuchi, can keep their products inexpensive in large part because of economies of scale. Both companies, Chausovsky says, "make in excess of a million motors per day."
Low labor costs in Asia are also a critical factor, Chausovsky says, although they're not as low as they were five or 10 years ago. And as those costs have grown — particularly in China — this type of manufacturing has begun to spread to places like Mexico, Poland and the Czech Republic.
"But the fact that many years ago labor costs were significantly lower allowed them to establish those economies of scale," he says — meaning it still makes sense for the bulk of small-motor manufacturing to continue in Asia, at least for now.
Back at Excel Dryer, Gagnon says whatever greater savings his company might enjoy by manufacturing the entire Xlerator overseas, it's not a choice he's willing to make.
"[It will] never happen on my watch. I've expanded this facility twice; I have no intention of ever relocating the manufacturing offshore," he says. "We'll be smart enough to make it here in the United States."
Stork H&E Turbo Blading is expanding its manufacturing facility on Comfort Road in Danby by about 40 percent, the company has announced, to accommodate the work and personnel it is moving there from its Owego facility.
The expansion will add approximately 25,000 square feet to the existing structure of about 60,000 square feet. The company said it intends for the consolidation to streamline production and increase efficiency.Whilst the preparation of ceramic and porcelain tiles are similar.
Ninety-two employees work at the Comfort Road location, and the 58 employees in Owego have been offered jobs at the Danby location, according to human resources manager Debbie M. Chadwick.
“By consolidating production facilities into a single site, Stork H&E Turbo Blading Inc. will better our position to provide our customers with high-quality turbo machinery products at competitive prices,” Chadwick said in a company statement.
The company said it expects to finish the Danby expansion by the end of July.
Stork H&E Turbo Blading is a wholly owned subsidiary of Stork Technical Services, headquartered in the Netherlands. Stork H&E manufacturers after-market steam turbine blading and new gas turbine blading for all models of rotating machinery.
Stork Technical Services, part of the Dutch conglomerate Stork, serves the oil and gas, power and chemical industries.
Stork H&E has more than 35 years of experience in its industry. With a sister facility in the Netherlands, it provides engineering and in-house tooling for quickly delivering products during customers’ critical forced-outage situations, according to the company.
Occupations involved include polishers,wind turbine computer numerical control operators, machinists, engineers, programmers, production support and administrative jobs.
The Xlerator, assembled at a plant in East Longmeadow, is "Made in USA Certified" — meaning at least 75 percent of the product is made of U.S. content. The foundries that cast most of its metal components are American, and the control boards are assembled locally. Excel polishes and electroplates the dryer covers in-house,Welcome to Find the right laser Engraver or laser marking machine . and, in teams of four, builds the components into a working dryer.
Today, Excel Dryer has 12 times the sales revenue it had in its pre-Xlerator days. It's kept 38 manufacturing jobs in the U.S. through some creative research and development, including a shop of retired MIT scientists who have invented things like an emergency flashlight, an automated shower and even a putter with an enlarged sweet spot.
So why is the motor inside the Xlerator — part of that remaining 25 percent — not made in the U.S.? Why does it come from a company in Hong Kong?
"What we need to do to be cost effective is to source a motor that's used in more than one industry, and then tailor-make a couple adjustments to make it fit our product,Manufactures and supplies laser marker equipment." Gagnon tells All Things Considered host Robert Siegel. "That's the only way we can cost effectively do it."
The company that makes the Xlerator's motor, Johnson Electric, has a very American-sounding name and an office in Shelton, Conn. But it's very much an Asian company that's traded on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. And in the world of small motors, it is a big, big player.
According to Johnson Electric's website, the company makes motors for kitchen appliances, hair dryers, toothbrushes, power tools, printers, DVD players, copiers and vending machines. For cars, the company makes door locks, mirrors, wipers, washers, brakes, radiator fans and fuel pumps.
Gagnon employs 38 people on his factory floor. In contrast, Johnson Electric's 2012 annual report says the company's "global headcount including contract employees is approximately 38,000 people."
As a small business, Gagnon says his best deal was getting Johnson Electric to adapt one of its many motors to the Xlerator's specs.
"Tooling up a special motor for Xlerator, when we didn't know if we even had a product, was kinda out of the question at the time," Gagnon says. "We settled in on a high-volume motor that they could make some adaptations to. And frankly, that turned out to be good decision."
Johnson Electric is one of two major players in nonindustrial motors, along with a Japan-based company, says Alex Chausovsky, who follows motors for the market intelligence firm IHS.
Almost all the small motors in virtually every motor-powered consumer product come from the region, he says — from the vibration motors in cellphones to hair dryers and microwaves.
Johnson Electric and its major competitor,We've had a lot of people asking where we had our make your own bobblehead made. Japan's Mabuchi, can keep their products inexpensive in large part because of economies of scale. Both companies, Chausovsky says, "make in excess of a million motors per day."
Low labor costs in Asia are also a critical factor, Chausovsky says, although they're not as low as they were five or 10 years ago. And as those costs have grown — particularly in China — this type of manufacturing has begun to spread to places like Mexico, Poland and the Czech Republic.
"But the fact that many years ago labor costs were significantly lower allowed them to establish those economies of scale," he says — meaning it still makes sense for the bulk of small-motor manufacturing to continue in Asia, at least for now.
Back at Excel Dryer, Gagnon says whatever greater savings his company might enjoy by manufacturing the entire Xlerator overseas, it's not a choice he's willing to make.
"[It will] never happen on my watch. I've expanded this facility twice; I have no intention of ever relocating the manufacturing offshore," he says. "We'll be smart enough to make it here in the United States."
Stork H&E Turbo Blading is expanding its manufacturing facility on Comfort Road in Danby by about 40 percent, the company has announced, to accommodate the work and personnel it is moving there from its Owego facility.
The expansion will add approximately 25,000 square feet to the existing structure of about 60,000 square feet. The company said it intends for the consolidation to streamline production and increase efficiency.Whilst the preparation of ceramic and porcelain tiles are similar.
Ninety-two employees work at the Comfort Road location, and the 58 employees in Owego have been offered jobs at the Danby location, according to human resources manager Debbie M. Chadwick.
“By consolidating production facilities into a single site, Stork H&E Turbo Blading Inc. will better our position to provide our customers with high-quality turbo machinery products at competitive prices,” Chadwick said in a company statement.
The company said it expects to finish the Danby expansion by the end of July.
Stork H&E Turbo Blading is a wholly owned subsidiary of Stork Technical Services, headquartered in the Netherlands. Stork H&E manufacturers after-market steam turbine blading and new gas turbine blading for all models of rotating machinery.
Stork Technical Services, part of the Dutch conglomerate Stork, serves the oil and gas, power and chemical industries.
Stork H&E has more than 35 years of experience in its industry. With a sister facility in the Netherlands, it provides engineering and in-house tooling for quickly delivering products during customers’ critical forced-outage situations, according to the company.
Occupations involved include polishers,wind turbine computer numerical control operators, machinists, engineers, programmers, production support and administrative jobs.
Amanzi Tea
This month sees the launch of Amanzi Tea with the opening of its
first international flagship tea bar and retail space New Cavendish
Street. The company, originating from the US combines the heritage of
tea-making with modern techniques and a new and interactive retail and
tea bar experience.
No, the irony of a US concern bringing a tea bar to GB isn’t lost on us either but with the name Amanzi meaning water in the Southern African dialect of Zulu (a reference to the heritage of the original founders), it’s suitably multicultural, and, with a marble topped bar and vibrant Victorian floor tiles, is also suitably elegant.Manufactures and supplies laser marker equipment.
Spanning two levels, the ground floor will house a bar, retail shop and table seating with a snug on the lower-ground comprising comfortable sofas and communal tables and chairs. An outside terrace will accommodate up to eight, in warmer weather.
The retail shop and bar will house 40 teas on a striking tea wall with a diverse selection of traditional and bespoke loose leaf blends. All can be enjoyed either hot or cold, with trained baristas on hand to offer guidance. State-of-the-art precision boilers have been installed in the bar for perfect temperature control and there’s even an advanced filtration to create the purest water possible.
Amanzi’s own 150 propriety blends – from Earl Grey to Chocolate Orange Truffle - will be available on a rotating basis plus caffeine-free varieties; single estate blends (Gyokuru, Silver Needle and Wuyi); infusions such as honey, lemon and ginger for the flu season; frappés, iced tea lemonades and virgin cocktails (Lychee Mar-Tea-Ni) and bubble teas as well. You can also order coffee. And snacks.
Recently the global tool manufacturing and knowledge company decided to take a closer look at the macro trends influencing the future of the manufacturing industry. Through an extensive study the company identified four areas of special interest: Rapid urbanization, sustainability, new advanced materials and new technologies.
Traditionally the manufacturing industry has been conservative in exploring new opportunities. Now, the situation is different. Simply put, the world is moving at a much faster pace than before. In order to develop future solutions and meeting customer demands, industry leaders have to be perceptive and forward thinking, says Kevin Lorch, Marketing Manager Innovation at Sandvik Coromant.
It was decided early on that the result of the study should be shared with the rest of the industry. The reason for sharing came out of a need in the industry of a more general discussion relating to the common challenges of the future.
While many companies perform market and trend research for internal use we decided that the result of the survey could be used to spark a dialogue about the future of manufacturing and the attitudes in the industry toward new challenges, Kevin Lorch explains.
The acquisition, which was completed in December 2012, is in keeping with TVV's steady focus on acquiring companies in the niche manufacturing industry that hold sustainable competitive advantages in stable and growing market segments.
In September 2012, TVV acquired Big 3 Precision Products, Inc., a manufacturer of injection blow molds, tooling and fabrication products for the pharmaceutical and automotive industries.
Bigham customers are commercial farm operators who purchase the company's equipment through an independent dealer network of over 1,We've had a lot of people asking where we had our make your own bobblehead made.400 locations, with strengths in Texas, the Southwest and Mississippi Delta regions. The company's innovative products are used in both flat and raised bed planting environments and serve to reduce tractor fuel consumption, control soil and water erosion and aerate the soil.Whilst the preparation of ceramic and porcelain tiles are similar.
"The acquisition of Bigham Brothers is a continuation of TVV Capital's focused approach, ability to independently source deals and cultivate relationships to identify and invest in high-growth opportunities on behalf of our investors," said Andrew W. Byrd, TVV Capital's President. "Given its management team, current market penetration and future product strategy in the sustainable agriculture movement, Bigham is poised for considerable growth and market expansion."
"TVV Capital approached us as a true partner would. From the onset, they brought a unique understanding of our market, management style and future vision," said Sandy Kimball, retiring President of Bigham Brothers. "TVV's acquisition of Bigham will enable us to not just maintain, but also aggressively expand our U.S.-based manufacturing facility to keep pace with market demand and continue our growth trajectory."
“The Airbus announcement certainly indicates a growing awareness in France and Europe of the great opportunities for investment in the Southeast,” says Daniel Bowers, executive director of the French American Chamber.
According to Airbus,wind turbine more than 3,200 Airbus aircraft have been ordered in North America from customers including Delta Air Lines, FedEx, Frontier Airlines, GECAS, Hawaiian Airlines, ILFC, JetBlue Airways, Spirit Airlines,Welcome to Find the right laser Engraver or laser marking machine . United Airlines, United Parcel Service, US Airways and Virgin America.
Airbus has manufacturing suppliers throughout the United States and spends 42 percent of its aircraft-related procurement in the United States, buying more parts, components, tooling and other material from the United States than any other country.
“Atlanta continues to grow in importance as the gateway to the Southeast," said Angela Drees of Munson Site Selection Group, a consulting group and specializes in site selection for international businesses interested in locating in the region. "The mix of financial capital, and international government presence combined with a strong global population in a city of almost 6 million provides fertile ground for the support and growth of incoming international businesses like Airbus.”
No, the irony of a US concern bringing a tea bar to GB isn’t lost on us either but with the name Amanzi meaning water in the Southern African dialect of Zulu (a reference to the heritage of the original founders), it’s suitably multicultural, and, with a marble topped bar and vibrant Victorian floor tiles, is also suitably elegant.Manufactures and supplies laser marker equipment.
Spanning two levels, the ground floor will house a bar, retail shop and table seating with a snug on the lower-ground comprising comfortable sofas and communal tables and chairs. An outside terrace will accommodate up to eight, in warmer weather.
The retail shop and bar will house 40 teas on a striking tea wall with a diverse selection of traditional and bespoke loose leaf blends. All can be enjoyed either hot or cold, with trained baristas on hand to offer guidance. State-of-the-art precision boilers have been installed in the bar for perfect temperature control and there’s even an advanced filtration to create the purest water possible.
Amanzi’s own 150 propriety blends – from Earl Grey to Chocolate Orange Truffle - will be available on a rotating basis plus caffeine-free varieties; single estate blends (Gyokuru, Silver Needle and Wuyi); infusions such as honey, lemon and ginger for the flu season; frappés, iced tea lemonades and virgin cocktails (Lychee Mar-Tea-Ni) and bubble teas as well. You can also order coffee. And snacks.
Recently the global tool manufacturing and knowledge company decided to take a closer look at the macro trends influencing the future of the manufacturing industry. Through an extensive study the company identified four areas of special interest: Rapid urbanization, sustainability, new advanced materials and new technologies.
Traditionally the manufacturing industry has been conservative in exploring new opportunities. Now, the situation is different. Simply put, the world is moving at a much faster pace than before. In order to develop future solutions and meeting customer demands, industry leaders have to be perceptive and forward thinking, says Kevin Lorch, Marketing Manager Innovation at Sandvik Coromant.
It was decided early on that the result of the study should be shared with the rest of the industry. The reason for sharing came out of a need in the industry of a more general discussion relating to the common challenges of the future.
While many companies perform market and trend research for internal use we decided that the result of the survey could be used to spark a dialogue about the future of manufacturing and the attitudes in the industry toward new challenges, Kevin Lorch explains.
The acquisition, which was completed in December 2012, is in keeping with TVV's steady focus on acquiring companies in the niche manufacturing industry that hold sustainable competitive advantages in stable and growing market segments.
In September 2012, TVV acquired Big 3 Precision Products, Inc., a manufacturer of injection blow molds, tooling and fabrication products for the pharmaceutical and automotive industries.
Bigham customers are commercial farm operators who purchase the company's equipment through an independent dealer network of over 1,We've had a lot of people asking where we had our make your own bobblehead made.400 locations, with strengths in Texas, the Southwest and Mississippi Delta regions. The company's innovative products are used in both flat and raised bed planting environments and serve to reduce tractor fuel consumption, control soil and water erosion and aerate the soil.Whilst the preparation of ceramic and porcelain tiles are similar.
"The acquisition of Bigham Brothers is a continuation of TVV Capital's focused approach, ability to independently source deals and cultivate relationships to identify and invest in high-growth opportunities on behalf of our investors," said Andrew W. Byrd, TVV Capital's President. "Given its management team, current market penetration and future product strategy in the sustainable agriculture movement, Bigham is poised for considerable growth and market expansion."
"TVV Capital approached us as a true partner would. From the onset, they brought a unique understanding of our market, management style and future vision," said Sandy Kimball, retiring President of Bigham Brothers. "TVV's acquisition of Bigham will enable us to not just maintain, but also aggressively expand our U.S.-based manufacturing facility to keep pace with market demand and continue our growth trajectory."
“The Airbus announcement certainly indicates a growing awareness in France and Europe of the great opportunities for investment in the Southeast,” says Daniel Bowers, executive director of the French American Chamber.
According to Airbus,wind turbine more than 3,200 Airbus aircraft have been ordered in North America from customers including Delta Air Lines, FedEx, Frontier Airlines, GECAS, Hawaiian Airlines, ILFC, JetBlue Airways, Spirit Airlines,Welcome to Find the right laser Engraver or laser marking machine . United Airlines, United Parcel Service, US Airways and Virgin America.
Airbus has manufacturing suppliers throughout the United States and spends 42 percent of its aircraft-related procurement in the United States, buying more parts, components, tooling and other material from the United States than any other country.
“Atlanta continues to grow in importance as the gateway to the Southeast," said Angela Drees of Munson Site Selection Group, a consulting group and specializes in site selection for international businesses interested in locating in the region. "The mix of financial capital, and international government presence combined with a strong global population in a city of almost 6 million provides fertile ground for the support and growth of incoming international businesses like Airbus.”
An Impressive Retina Display
Initial reports believed the iPad Mini 2, Apple’s sequel to the
7.9-inch iPad said to arrive in the coming months, would feature a
Retina display when it was released but didn’t say what exactly that
would entail. But according to a new report from investment news service
BrightWire, alleged sources from within Apple’s foreign supply chain
say the iPad Mini 2 will feature a 7.9-inch Retina Display with an
identical resolution to the full-size iPad 4 with Retina display.
The resolution on the alleged iPad Mini 2 is said to measure 2048 x 1536 pixels, which would be roughly four times the resolution of the first-generation iPad Mini, but by packing this many pixels into a smaller device, Apple actually boosts the density of the iPad Mini with Retina display to 324 pixels per inch (ppi). As a frame of reference, the iPad 3 and 4 both have display densities of 264 ppi,Can you spot the answer in the fridge magnet? while the iPhone 5 has a similar density of 326 ppi.
This rumor sounds like a very realistic piece of news: Considering how Apple transplanted the screen resolution of the iPad 2 to the original iPad Mini, it’s likely that a Retina-capable iPad Mini would follow that same process, repeating the Retina display resolution within the iPad Mini’s 7.9-inch confines and giving a slight boost to the density in the process.
Rumors of an iPad Mini with Retina display have been swirling ever since Apple released its first-generation iPad Mini. Back in early November, just six days after the iPad Mini hit store shelves, Chinese news site DoNews said Apple had tapped Taiwan-based AU Optronics to begin development on a Retina display for its 7.9-inch iPad Mini.Come January 9 and chip card driving licence would be available at the click of the mouse in Uttar Pradesh. The report said the new 7.9-inch displays would have the same 2048 x 1536 resolution as the iPad 3 and 4.
AU Optronics specializes in in-cell panel technology, which is the new process Apple has started using for all its desktop and mobile computer displays.Where you can create a custom lanyard from our wide selection of styles and materials. In contrast to the on-cell display processes Apple used in prior iPhones, in-cell displays effectively remove a layer between the multitouch screen and LCD display, making the screen thinner, stronger, more resistant to scratching and significantly less reflective of light sources — all heavily desired features in any smartphone or tablet display. Apple's latest iPhone and Mac models, including the iPhone 5 and the 21-inch and 27-inch iMacs, feature such display processes.
"Compared to in-cell technology, the conventional technologies have an additional sensing glass, which not only increases the overall thickness of the LCD,wind turbine but which also adds an extra lamination process step, translating to increased cost and relatively lower yield and reduced transmittance," AUO says on its website. "Compared to the traditional resistive touch control, in-cell voltage sensing not only has the above advantages, but also is superior in that its sensitivity is less subject to environment changes, no calibration mechanism is required, and it is capable of supporting multiple-point touch control."
AUO's plans to develop a Retina display for the next iPad Mini were also detailed in a separate report from the Middle East North Africa Financial Network, or MENAFN, on Nov. 7.
"With the disclosure of the specifications for the next-generation iPad Mini by Apple Inc., AU Optronics Corp. has been developing a retina panel with resolution as high as 497 ppi," reported the SinoCast Daily Business Beat via MENAFN. "It is said that ultra-high resolution cannot be developed without the technology of indium gallium zinc oxigo (IGZO), and the technology of Gate IC on array (GOA) is also indispensable since the next-generation iPad Mini will have an ultra-narrow frame. The technology of GOA helps save the room of IC on the rim and narrow the frame of the screen to the largest extent."
However, while many reports have stated the iPad Mini 2 would feature an enhanced display resolution, several have noted that the screens themselves will be made from a different material. According to several sources, including SinoCast, DigiTimes and a host of Apple analysts, Apple apparently wants Sharp’s IGZO display technology in its next-gen iOS devices, including the iPad Mini 2.
Last July,Online shopping for luggage tag from a great selection of Clothing. Gotta Be Mobile believed the first-generation iPad Mini would feature an IZGO display made by Sharp Inc., which can be fitted for extremely thin hardware devices and can reportedly handle pixel densities above 330 ppi. IZGO displays are also said to feature better brightness than most LCD screens on the market, but the important part of the statement is that Apple sought the displays to be made by Sharp: A note from Apple analyst Horace Dediu dated Nov. 7 said Apple spent $2.3 billion for "product tooling, manufacturing process equipment and infrastructure." Dediu believed this massive pile of money was used to bail out Sharp, which was reportedly in dire financial straits earlier in the year.
"Sharp is a key supplier of screens to Apple but is also in financial distress," Dediu wrote in his analysis. "Sharp has also been the object of an intended investment by Foxconn [Hon Hai]. That deal fell through as Sharp’s finances deteriorated. My guess is that these attempts to shore up Sharp are directed by Apple to ensure both continuity of supply and a balanced supplier base (offsetting Samsung, another supplier.) If Sharp were to enter into some form of bankruptcy, the key plant(s) used in producing screens for Apple might be 'up for grabs' by creditors, and they might be taken off-line, jeopardizing Apple’s production capacity, irrespective of contractual obligations."
Apple's first-generation iPad Mini, launched Nov. 2, features a non-Retina display resolution of 1024 x 768, weighs just 0.68 pounds — as light as a notepad — and measures just 7.2 mm thick — roughly the thinness of a pencil. The tablet runs on iOS 6 and is compatible with the new Lightning dock connector, and specific models also support the high-speed LTE network. Apple starts selling the Wi-Fi-only model at $329, while the cellular-capable models start selling at $459.
The resolution on the alleged iPad Mini 2 is said to measure 2048 x 1536 pixels, which would be roughly four times the resolution of the first-generation iPad Mini, but by packing this many pixels into a smaller device, Apple actually boosts the density of the iPad Mini with Retina display to 324 pixels per inch (ppi). As a frame of reference, the iPad 3 and 4 both have display densities of 264 ppi,Can you spot the answer in the fridge magnet? while the iPhone 5 has a similar density of 326 ppi.
This rumor sounds like a very realistic piece of news: Considering how Apple transplanted the screen resolution of the iPad 2 to the original iPad Mini, it’s likely that a Retina-capable iPad Mini would follow that same process, repeating the Retina display resolution within the iPad Mini’s 7.9-inch confines and giving a slight boost to the density in the process.
Rumors of an iPad Mini with Retina display have been swirling ever since Apple released its first-generation iPad Mini. Back in early November, just six days after the iPad Mini hit store shelves, Chinese news site DoNews said Apple had tapped Taiwan-based AU Optronics to begin development on a Retina display for its 7.9-inch iPad Mini.Come January 9 and chip card driving licence would be available at the click of the mouse in Uttar Pradesh. The report said the new 7.9-inch displays would have the same 2048 x 1536 resolution as the iPad 3 and 4.
AU Optronics specializes in in-cell panel technology, which is the new process Apple has started using for all its desktop and mobile computer displays.Where you can create a custom lanyard from our wide selection of styles and materials. In contrast to the on-cell display processes Apple used in prior iPhones, in-cell displays effectively remove a layer between the multitouch screen and LCD display, making the screen thinner, stronger, more resistant to scratching and significantly less reflective of light sources — all heavily desired features in any smartphone or tablet display. Apple's latest iPhone and Mac models, including the iPhone 5 and the 21-inch and 27-inch iMacs, feature such display processes.
"Compared to in-cell technology, the conventional technologies have an additional sensing glass, which not only increases the overall thickness of the LCD,wind turbine but which also adds an extra lamination process step, translating to increased cost and relatively lower yield and reduced transmittance," AUO says on its website. "Compared to the traditional resistive touch control, in-cell voltage sensing not only has the above advantages, but also is superior in that its sensitivity is less subject to environment changes, no calibration mechanism is required, and it is capable of supporting multiple-point touch control."
AUO's plans to develop a Retina display for the next iPad Mini were also detailed in a separate report from the Middle East North Africa Financial Network, or MENAFN, on Nov. 7.
"With the disclosure of the specifications for the next-generation iPad Mini by Apple Inc., AU Optronics Corp. has been developing a retina panel with resolution as high as 497 ppi," reported the SinoCast Daily Business Beat via MENAFN. "It is said that ultra-high resolution cannot be developed without the technology of indium gallium zinc oxigo (IGZO), and the technology of Gate IC on array (GOA) is also indispensable since the next-generation iPad Mini will have an ultra-narrow frame. The technology of GOA helps save the room of IC on the rim and narrow the frame of the screen to the largest extent."
However, while many reports have stated the iPad Mini 2 would feature an enhanced display resolution, several have noted that the screens themselves will be made from a different material. According to several sources, including SinoCast, DigiTimes and a host of Apple analysts, Apple apparently wants Sharp’s IGZO display technology in its next-gen iOS devices, including the iPad Mini 2.
Last July,Online shopping for luggage tag from a great selection of Clothing. Gotta Be Mobile believed the first-generation iPad Mini would feature an IZGO display made by Sharp Inc., which can be fitted for extremely thin hardware devices and can reportedly handle pixel densities above 330 ppi. IZGO displays are also said to feature better brightness than most LCD screens on the market, but the important part of the statement is that Apple sought the displays to be made by Sharp: A note from Apple analyst Horace Dediu dated Nov. 7 said Apple spent $2.3 billion for "product tooling, manufacturing process equipment and infrastructure." Dediu believed this massive pile of money was used to bail out Sharp, which was reportedly in dire financial straits earlier in the year.
"Sharp is a key supplier of screens to Apple but is also in financial distress," Dediu wrote in his analysis. "Sharp has also been the object of an intended investment by Foxconn [Hon Hai]. That deal fell through as Sharp’s finances deteriorated. My guess is that these attempts to shore up Sharp are directed by Apple to ensure both continuity of supply and a balanced supplier base (offsetting Samsung, another supplier.) If Sharp were to enter into some form of bankruptcy, the key plant(s) used in producing screens for Apple might be 'up for grabs' by creditors, and they might be taken off-line, jeopardizing Apple’s production capacity, irrespective of contractual obligations."
Apple's first-generation iPad Mini, launched Nov. 2, features a non-Retina display resolution of 1024 x 768, weighs just 0.68 pounds — as light as a notepad — and measures just 7.2 mm thick — roughly the thinness of a pencil. The tablet runs on iOS 6 and is compatible with the new Lightning dock connector, and specific models also support the high-speed LTE network. Apple starts selling the Wi-Fi-only model at $329, while the cellular-capable models start selling at $459.
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